BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

O- 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


MORMONISM  EXPOSED 
AND  REFUTED 


OR 


TRUE  AND  FALSE  RELIGION 


CONTRASTED 

FORTY  YEARS'  EXPERIENCE  AND  OBSERVATION 
AMONG  THE  MORMONS 

BY 

WILLIAM  KIRBY, 

Editor  of  ' 'BIBLE  INVESTIGATOR" 
DONIPHAN,  KANSAS 


NASHVILLE,    TENN.: 

GOSPEL  ADVOCATE  PUBLISHING  Co. 
1893. 


DEDICATED  TO 

AI.L   BIBI.E   INVESTIGATORS 

BY   THE   AUTHOR. 


COPYRIGHT,  1893,  by  WM.  KIRBY. 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 
Author's  Remarks  to  the  Reader 5-18. 

CHAPTER  II. 
Early  Life  and  Conversion  of  the  Author 19-26. 

CHAPTER  III. 
First  Contact  with  the  Mormons 27-43. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Experience  in  Joining  the  Church , 44-56. 

CHAPTER  V. 
Experience  and  Observation  in  England 57~77- 

CHAPTER  VI. 
From  Liverpool  to  New  Orleans  on  Board  of  Ship 78-119. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

From  New  Orleans  to  Kansas  City — Cholera — No  Heal- 
ing     120-146. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Crossing  the  Plains  from  Kansas  City  to  Salt  Lake. . .     147-168 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Experience  and  Observation  in  Salt  Lake  City 169-191. 

CHAPTER  X. 
Experience  in  the  Country — Locating  in  Payson 192-203. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Author  and  W.  W.  Prove  Mormonism  a  False  Re- 
ligion— They  Separate 204-230. 

(iii) 


IV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  Author's   Experience    and  Trial   for    Neglected 

Duty 231-250. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Observations  on  Polygamy — Its  Evils 251-274. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Leaving  Payson — Visit  to  Friends — The  Result 275-298. 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Leaving  Salt  Lake  City  for  Green  River 299-318. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
From  Green   River  to  St.  Joseph — Incidents  by  the 

Way 319-348. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  Christian  Religion  Defined  and  Proven 349~373- 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Joseph  Smith's  Early  Life  and  Character 374-411. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Origin   of    the   Book   of    Mormon — Spalding   Manu- 
script   412-445- 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Witnesses  to  the   Book   of  Mormon   Examined  and 

Tested 446-477. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Smith's  Troubles — Manuscript  Lost — Harris  Threatens 

Smith's  Life 478-500. 


MORMONIS1  EXPOSED   AND    REFUTED; 

OR, 

TRUE  AND  FALSE  RELIGION  CONTRASTED. 


CHAPTER  I. 
AUTHOR'S  REMARKS  TO  THE  READER. 

MORMONISM,  as  an  institution  of  religion, 
is  either  true  or  false.  Such  is  its  na- 
ture, or  character,  that  it  is,  in  the  absolute 
sense,  either  of  God  or  of  Satan.  It  claims  for 
itself  to  be  strictly  of  God,  and  Joseph  Smith,  its 
founder,  in  1825,  claims  to  have  received  direct 
revelations  from  God  to  institute  and  establish 
a  new  and  distinct  religion,  to  be  observed  by  all 
mankind  as  the  only  divine,  God-acknowledged 
system  of  religion  upon  the  earth.  Smith  also 
claims  that  ang^els  frequently  appeared  to  him, 
and  directed  him  to  institute  what  is  commonly 
called  the  Mormon  religion.  Hence,  he  declares 
that  all  other  forms  of  religion  extant  are  but 
of  human  origin,  and  are  false.  He  claims  to 
have  been  appointed  of  God  as  the  prophet  and 

(5) 


6          Mormowism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

revealer  of  God's  will  to  the  world  of  mankind 
in  these,  the  last  days.  These  peculiar  claims 
of  Smith  are  either  true  or  false.  If  true,  all 
mankind  should  know  it ;  and  if  such  claims 
are  false,  mankind  should  know  it.  Mormon- 
ism,  as  a  system  and  a  people,  is  a  live,  work- 
ing-, active  institution.  If  it  is  of  God,  its  ac- 
tivity is  truly  commendable.  If  it  is  of  the 
Evil  One,  it  is  reasonable,  nevertheless,  that  it 
would  be  active  ;  for  it  is  said  of  Satan  that 
he  "g-oeth  to  and  fro  on  the  earth,  seeking- 
whom  he  may  devour." 

Having-  bestowed  many  years  of  thoug-ht  and 
investigation  upon  the  subject  contained  in  the 
following-  pages,  the  author  can  but  feel  he  has 
something-  to  offer  to  the  reader  which  will  be 
found  both  interesting  and  profitable.  If,  in  any 
sense,  religion  is  of  value  or  worth  to  mankind, 
may  he  hope  it  will  be  found  in  the  following  ? 
If  in  any  way  the  religion  of  the  Bible  relates 
t<5  man's  present  and  future  welfare,  the  pres- 
ent work  read  and  studied  will  not  be  time  mis- 
spent. 

If  there  is  a  God,  the  author  and  the  director 
of  human  existence  ;  and  if  the  Bible  in  any 


Author '  s  Remarks  to  the  Reader.  7 

sense  shows  the  nature  and  will  of  God  toward 
man,  then  it  should  follow  that  mankind  should 
strive  to  know  the  will  of  God  and  his  pur- 
poses concerning-  them.  If  the  Bible  teaches 
a  true  religion — the  true  relation  of  man  to  his 
God  and  his  fellow — then  it  should  follow,  too, 
that  man  ought,  by  all  possible  means,  to  ac- 
quire a  clear  knowledge  of  such  true  religion. 

If  there  is  a  possibility  of  the  existence  of  a 
false  religion  in  the  world,  as  it  would  appear 
the  Bible  declares  to  be,  would  it  not  be  to 
man's  highest  interest  to  be  able  to  detect  such? 
So  the  author  of  the  present  work  thinks,  and 
to  this  end  has  made  choice  of  the  present  sub- 
ject for  investigation — true  and  false  religion  ; 
and  which  he  hopes  the  following  pages  may 
critically  and  correctly  set  forth. 

The  nature  of  the  Christian  religion  as  set 
forth  in  the  New  Testament,  is  such  that  it  is 
strictly  divine  and  of  God,  or  it  is  as  strictly 
false.  If  true,  it  is  all  important  that  man 
should  know  it ;  for  not  to  know  it  would  be 
not  to  be  safe.  What  is  true  of  Christianity  is 
true  of  the  divine  claims  of  Joseph  Smith  and 
his  system  of  religion — it  is  true  or  false.  The 


8          Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

aim  of  the  writer  is  to  settle  this  very  import- 
ant question,  and  by  so  doing  assist  the  reader 
to  a  safe  conclusion. 

True  religion  brings  man  into  his  true  rela- 
tion to  God  and  his  fellow.  The  true  secures 
the  blessings  and  favor  of  God;  the  false 
brings  the  curse  of  Satan,  as  seen  in  the  Garden 
of  Eden,  and  through  the  whole  of  the  Bible. 
God  has  always  had  a  following ;  his  law  is  the 
law  of  love  to  God  and  man.  Satan  has  had 
his  following  ;  his  law  is  the  law  of  hate  toward 
God  and  his  fellow.  The  person  who  loves 
God  and  his  fellow  is  of  God.  The  person  who 
hates  God  and  his  fellow  is  not  of  God,  but  is 
of  "Satan,  who  reigns  in  the  hearts  of  the  chil- 
dren of  disobedience." 

The  religion  of  the  New  Testament  is  in  the 
nature  of  things,  and  is  required  of  man  ;  that 
is,  "to  love  God  and  his  fellow;"  a  due  rever- 
ence of  the  unknown  God;  and  "do  unto  all 
men  everywhere  as  we  would  they  should  do 
unto  us. "  "  For  this  is  the  law  and  the  proph- 
ets." Such  a  religion  as  this  is  not  question- 
able ;  it  is  in  harmony  with  reason  and  with 
man's  intellectual  make-up.  On  this  basis  of 


Author* s  Remarks  to  the  Reader.  9 

New  Testament  principle,  the  writer  has  con- 
trasted the  institution  and  system  of  religion 
set  up  by  Joseph  Smith. 

Proof  of  the  early  life  and  character  of  Jo- 
seph Smith  is  given  by  those  who  mingled  and 
associated  with  him  as  neighbors,  and  who  were 
acquainted  with  his  real  life. 

The  real  source  from  which  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon originated  is  proven  by  the  testimonials  of 
such  persons  as  fully  knew  whereof  they  af- 
firmed. 

The  contents  of  the  Book  of  Mormon,  as 
criticised  by  the  author,  prove  beyond  doubt 
that  Smith,  or  some  other  person,  reconstruct- 
ed a  manuscript  of  Solomon  Spalding,  which 
was  garbled  into  the  Book  of  Mormon,  making 
it  to  speak  of  things,  and  quoting  from  the 
New  Testament,  hundreds  of  years  before  the 
New  Testament  times,  or  before  it  was  writ- 
ten. 

The  nature  of  the  organization  of  the  Mor- 
mon church  is  vividly  shown  to  be  out  of  har- 
mony with  the  New  Testament  church,  estab- 
lished by  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and 
more  in  harmony  with  the  Old  Testament  na- 


10        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

tional  church,  with  Smith's  native  make-up  de- 
veloped and  infused  into  it. 

Smith's  actions,  and  the  nature  of  his  pre- 
tended revelations,  as  taken  from  their  own 
standard  works,  are  critically  examined  and 
shown  up,  step  by  step,  as  he  develops  his  own 
true  nature,  and  incorporates  it  into  his  system 
of  religion,  showing1  his  strong  carnal  propen- 
sities, his  ambition  to  rule,  use,  and  control 
both  the  people  and  their  possessions. 

The  work  from  first  to  last  shows  out  an  evil 
religion  and  the  evil  results  which  necessarily 
follow  ;  and  that  evil  and  error  are  equally  re- 
producing, as  righteousness  and  truth. 

The  work  is  offered  to  the  public  as  a  guide- 
post  to  protect  them  from,  and  warn  them 
against  becoming  victims  of,  evil,  seducing  men, 
and  suffering  the  evil  consequences  of  a  false 
religion,  as  in  the  case  of  the  writer;  "  for  evil 
men  will  wax  worse  and  worse,  deceiving  and 
being  deceived  until  the  end  come." 

The  writer's  personal  experience  among'  the 
Mormons  is  the  vital  practical  refutation  of 
the  claims  and  workings  of  the  system.  Known 
facts  and  observations  absolutely  settle  the 


Author '  s  Remarks  to  the  Reader.          11 

matter,  as  presented  by  the  writer  as  an  eye- 
witness. In  this  enlightened  age  each  one 
should  study  the  Bible  for  himself  as  a  reform- 
er. The  principle  and  disposition  of  Lmther 
(the  noted  religious  reformer)  are  entertained 
and -acted  upon  by  a  multitude  of  the  brightest 
minds  and  purest  hearts  since  his  day.  But 
Martin  Luther  never  undertook  to  reform  the  re- 
ligion of  Jesus  Christ.  No  ;  his  aim  and  reform- 
ation was  that  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church  as 
an  organic  system  of  religion.  But  the  religious 
right  and  personal  freedom  of  Luther  to  at- 
tack, expose,  and  withdraw  from  the  Roman 
Catholic  church  as  a  system  of  religion,  was 
but  the  entering  wedge  by  which  this  solid 
church  was  rent  in  twain.  The  liberty  and 
freedom  of  Luther  on  religion  was  caught  4ip 
by  others,  and  has  divided  what  was  .supposed 
to  be  the  one  organic  system  into  hundreds  of 
fragments  as  organic  sects  of  religion. 

Luther  was  no  divinely  favored  person  as  to 
religious  freedom  and  liberty.  No ;  what  he 
would  ask  and  claim  for  himself  of  religious 
freedom  and  liberty,  others  justly  felt  entitled 
to  the  same.  Hence,  if  Luther  could  justly 


12        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

and  rightly  institute  a  new  sect  of  religion, 
differing-  somewhat  from  the  established  church 
of  Roman  Catholicism,  it  was  but  fair  to  pre- 
sume that  any  and  all  other  persons  were  at 
liberty  and  had  freedom  to  do  the  same,  and 
were  at  liberty  to  take  exceptions  to,  and  differ 
from  Luther,  as  he  had  differed  from  the  Ro- 
man Catholics. 

This  done,  the  flood-gates  of  religious  liberty 
and  freedom  were  thrown  wide  open  to  all  man- 
kind. And  while  all  intelligent  Christians  ad- 
mit there  is  but  one  true  church  of  God  upon 
the  earth,  organic  religious  sects  are  legion, 
and,  as  sects,  cannot  possibly  constitute  the 
one  church  of  the  living  God. 

The  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apos- 
tles was  in  the  strictest  sense  personal — per- 
sonal faith  in  God  as  "the  rewarder  of  all  who 
diligently  seek  him  ;"  individual  personal  re- 
pentance of  sin  toward  God  and  man  ;  personal 
baptismal  obedience  (if  baptism  should  prove 
to  be  an  absolute  necessity  to  salvation).  The 
religion  of  Jesus  proposes  individual  or  per- 
sonal pardon  of  past  sins,  and  promises  the 
personal  comfort  and  indwelling  of  the  Holy 


Author '  s  Remarks  to  the  Reader.          13 

Spirit — "the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  the 
heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  given  him." 
The  religion  of  Jesus  promises  divine  aid  to  its 
professor  personally,  to  assist  his  infirmities 
and  enable  him  to  run  the  race  set  before  him. 
And  finally,  he  expects  a  personal,  glorified, 
spiritual  resurrection  from  the  dead  ;  and  to  be 
personally  admitted  an  abundant  entrance  into 
the  everlasting  kingdom,  and  to  be  confessed 
of  Christ  before  his  Father  and  holy  angels. 
Confederate  organic  religion,  such  as  Mormon- 
ism  proposes  to  be,  cannot  confer  nor  work  out 
such  an  ultimate  for  an  individual.  No  ;  he 
must  "work  out  his  own  salvation,  with  fear 
and  trembling,  for  it  is  God  who  worketh  in 
him  to  will  and  to  do  his  good  pleasure." 

Religion  being  personal,  it -follows  that  Mor- 
monism,  confederately  or  organically  consid- 
ered, is  not  in  any  sense  necessary  to  man's 
salvation  ;  and  if  not  essential  to  man's  salva- 
tion, as  a  religious  system  it  is  not  of  God. 

Herein  is  the  importance  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion in  this  life;  in  its  simplicity,  it  is  "love 
to  God  and  man."  "He  that  loveth  is  born  of 
God."  "Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law." 


14        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

Such  a  religion  is  self-demonstrative.  It  is 
right  and  true  from  its  own  vital  nature.  But 
there  are  false  religions,  which  are  human, 
"earthly,  sensual,  satanic."  Such,  in  the  fol- 
lowing work,  the  author  shows  Mormonism  to 
be. 

Every  person  needs  the  help  of  his  fellow,  to 
some  extent,  to  guard  his  own  and  the  interests 
of  those  dependent  upon  him,  and  should  be 
free  to  use  any  and  every  help  to  aid  him  to  safe 
conclusions  in  religious  matters  as  well  as  ev- 
ery day  life. 

The  following  work  proposes  a  clear  and 
critical  expose  of  false  religion,  contrasted, 
from  first  to  last,  with  the  simple  fact  and  spir- 
it of  the  New  Testament,  which  is  the  hope  of 
the  author  to  assist  the  reader  to  safe  and  cor- 
rect conclusions  in  matters  of  religion. 

The  writer  has  endeavored  to  give  chapter 
and  verse  for  all  Bible  thought  suggested,  so 
Bible  students  may  easily  refer  to  the  script- 
ure quoted,  and  study  the  text  and  context  for 
themselves. 

From  necessity,  the  author  has  given  his  ex- 
perience and  observations  in  the  most  simple 


Author'1  s  Remarks  to  the  Reader.          15 

language,  so  "he  who  runs  may  read"  and  un- 
derstand. 

Having  spent  some  forty-five  years  in  the 
study  of  the  Bible  and  religious  life  and  char- 
acter, I  feel  I  have  something  of  worth,  from  a 
religious  standpoint,  to  offer  to  the  reader, 
which  will  justify  his  time  to  read  and  the 
amount  he  may  invest  in  the  work. 

The  writer  can  but  feel,  if  such  a  work  as 
the  present  had  been  put  into  his  hand,  in  his 
youthful  days,  it  would  have  rendered  him 
much  assistance  in  drawing  more  safe  and  more 
early  conclusions  on  religious  matters.  All 
man  knows,  or  can  know,  he  has  to  learn,  and 
the  more  efficient  our  means  of  learning,  the 
more  easily  and  the  more  readily  do  we  learn. 
The  past  of  human  life  and  experience  trans- 
mitted to  this  generation  "is  the  mother  of  the 
present,"  and  "the  present  is  but  the  child  of 
the  past."  And  equally  so,  the  present  will 
become  the  parent  of  the  coming  generation. 
Hence  the  necessity  of  making  for  ourselves  a 
desirable  and  profitable  record  in  our  life,  that 
its  influence  may  be  effective  for  good  on  the 
coming  generation. 


16        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

The  author,  feeling-  whatever  in  his  life  or 
experience  mig-ht  be  profitable  to  those  who 
may  follow  and  make  up  the  next  g-eneration, 
has  been  prompted  to  transmit  to  them  his  ex- 
perience and  observations  among1  the  Mormons, 
feeling-  sure  that  those  who  may  carefully  read 
and  study  the  contents  of  his  undertaking-  will 
feel  justified  and  'well  repaid  for  the  effort. 

Mormonism  was  but  one  of  many  new  relig-- 
ious  sects  which  took  their  rise  in  the  early 
part  of  the  present  century,  thoug-h  unlike 
the  various  Protestant  sects,  which  are  but  a 
reform  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  and  a 
reformation  of  each  other  as  sects  ;  for  the  mul- 
titude of  sects  of  the  present  day  are  but  an 
attempt  by  each  one  to  reform  its  predecessor, 
and  are  but  reformations  reformed. 

But  Mormonism  does  not  undertake  to  re- 
form any  existing-  sect,  Catholic  or  Protestant. 
No.  It  proposes  to  restore  to  the  earth  the 
church  of  God,  which  it  claims  had  ceased  to 
exist  on  the  earth  for  many  centuries  before. 
It  assumes  and  attempts  to  be  a  new  relig-ious 
system,  revealed  direct  from  God  to  Joseph 
Smith,  its  founder,  partaking-  somewhat'of  the 


Author '  s  Remarks  to  the  Reader.          17 

Christian,  and  somewhat  of  the  law  of  Moses, 
and  somewhat — very  largely — of  the  personal, 
developed  make-up  of  its  founder. 

Mormonism,  as  a  system,  at  the  present  day, 
evidently  partakes  more  or  less  of  any  and  all 
organic  systems  that  ever  preceded  it,  religious 
or  otherwise.  Like  the  system  established  by 
Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles,  its  claims  are  so 
divinely  high  that  it  must  necessarily  be  of 
God,  and  supersede  and  set  aside  all  other 
claims  of  religion,  or  it  is  the  most  stupendous 
religious  fraud  ever  sought  to  be  palmed  off  on 
the  world  of  mankind,  any  and  all  heathen  sys- 
tems of  religion  not  excepted. 

The  object  of  the  author  in  the  present  work 
is  to  prove,  beyond  all  possible  doubt,  that 
Mormonism  is  the  latter ;  and  that  by  so  doing 
he  may  save  many  of  his  fellows  from  the  evils 
consequent  upon  a  life  among  the  Mormons, 
and  remove,  to  some  extent,  part  of  the  hin- 
drances and  obstructions  which  lie  in  the  way 
of  true  religion. 

The  religious  system  of  Joseph  Smith  is  no 
compromise  of  previous  religious  systems.  It 
does  not  look  to  a  modification  of  any.  No  ;  it 


18        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted.     - 

proposes  at  one  complete  stroke  to  set  every 
prior  system  of  religion  aside,  and  originate 
something*  new  as  a  system  of  religion.  God 
is  made  to  say  by  Joseph  Smith  that  all  and 
every  religious  system  extant  in  the  world  is 
false  and  under  God's  disapproval,  and  is  of 
the  devil.  On  this  basis  Joseph  Smith  starts 
out,  and  claims  to  receive  a  complete  new  sys- 
tem of  religion  direct  from  heaven  ;  and  if,  as 
he  would  claim,  Mormonism  is  the  only  God- 
given  religious  system  to  man  by  which  he  can 
be  saved,  it  is  man's  highest  interest  to  know 
it ;  and  should  it  prove  false,  it  is  equally  man's 
duty  to  himself  and  his  fellow  to  be  sure  of  the 
fact.  Such  is  the  nature  of  Mormonism  as  a 
system  of  religion.  It  is  absolutely  true  or  ab- 
solutely false.  It  is  strictly  (viewed  from  a 
Bible  standpoint)  of  God  or  of  the  devil — it  is 
of  heaven  or  of  hell.  Its  very  nature  will  not 
admit  of  its  being  neither,  nor  of  both.  Hence 
the  necessity  of  a  thorough  investigation  of  its 
merits  and  demerits. 


CHAPTER   II. 
EARLY  LIFE  AND  CONVERSION  OF  THE  AUTHOR. 


THE  author  —  William  Kirby  —  was  born  in 
Romanby,  near  Northallerton,  Yorkshire, 
England.  I  was  the  second  son  and  child  of 
John  and  Margaret  Kirby.  My  parents  were 
poor  people,  laboring*  from  day  to  day  in  order 
to  support  their  family  of  five  sons  and  two 
daughters.  I  received  but  little  education, 
learning  only  to  read  and  write.  At  the  age  of 
ten  years  I  was  put  to  work  on  a  farm,  my 
wages  being  six  cents  per  day,  my  parents 
having  to  board  me.  At  that  time  work  was 
scarce  and  wages  low  for  farm  laborers.  The 
thirty-six  cents  per  week  —  my  wages—  added 
that  much  toward  the  support  of  the  family. 
From  ten  years  of  age  I  was  kept  constantly 
at  work  by  the  day,  or  by  the  year. 

Family  and  church  records  show  I  was  bap- 
tized at  a  month  old,  by  the  parish  priest  of 
the  Church  of  England  —  god-fathers  and  god- 
mothers in  attendance,  two  of  each.  At  the 

(19) 


20        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

age  of  six  I  was  sent  to  Sunday-school,  con- 
ducted by  the  Church  of  England.  Here  I  re- 
ceived my  first  lessons  in  religion,  much  of 
which  I  am  yet  able  to  repeat,  but  some  of 
which  I  am  not  able  to  believe. 

At  about  the  age  .of  eight  years  I  was  trans- 
ferred from  the  Sunday-school  of  the  Church 
of  Rng'land  to  that  of  the  Primitive  Methodist. 
Here  I  improved  some  in  reading,  and  was 
brought  in  contact  with  Methodist  religious  in- 
fluence. Here  I  gave  my  first  public  exhibition 
on  religion,  having  had  assigned  to  me  the  23d 
psalm  for  public  recitation,  which  has  re- 
mained fresh  in  my  mind  ever  since,  and  has 
frequently  been  a  source  of  comfort  to  me  in 
life's  struggles  and  trials,  when  calling  it  to 
mind  and  repeating  it.  I  still  retain  in  my 
mind  many  little  items  of  interest  of  a  religious 
character,  which  I  learned  and  committed  to 
memory  in  those  Sunday-school  days. 

At  the  age  of  thirteen  I  engaged  to  work  out 
for  a  farmer  by  the  year.  My  wages  for  the 
first  year  was  £2  and  board.  This  was  equal 
to  $9.60  for  one  year's  wages. 

In  those  boyish  days  I  had  many  peculiar 


Conversion  of  the  Author.  21 

thoughts  and  reflections  on  nature  and  human 
life.  I  might  say,  without  egotism,  in  early  life 
I  was  a  great  thinker  on  many  peculiar  subjects 
though  I  was  poor,  uneducated  and  obscure. 
Prom  this  time  on,  I  had  no  Sunday-school  or 
church  opportunities.  I  had  no  books,  and  but 
little  time  or  inclination  to  read.  Apart  from 
my  daily  work,  my  mind  was  absorbed  in  its  own 
meditations  and  reflections.  I  might  say,  at 
this  time  I  was  truly  a  son  of  nature,  for  I  had 
no  tutor  but  nature  itself.  I  mingled  but  little 
with  boys  of  my  age.  I  felt,  from  principle,  I 
must  be  faithful  to  my  employer.  I  felt  en- 
couraged at  the  manifestation  of  my  employ- 
er's confidence  in  me,  and  it  ever  served  as  an 
inspiration  to  more  faithful  servitude.  I  was 
ever  anxious  to  give  full  satisfaction  to  my  em- 
ployer. I  could  only  be  at  rest  and  happy  as 
everything  was  satisfactory  and  right  about 
me. 

My  notions  on  religion  at  this  time  were  such 
as  I  had  imbibed  from  my  surroundings.  I  knew 
to  be  right  in  the  sight  of  God  I  must  do  right. 
I  felt  at  this  time  all  that  was  necessary  for 
me  to  do  was  to  do  what  I  understood  to  be 


22      ,  Momwonisftn  'Exposed  and  Refitted. 

right,  and  God  would  do  his  part,  though  in 
many  things  I  would  do  violence  to  my  own 
conscience.  Then  I  would  regret,  and  ask  for- 
giveness, with  a  purpose  to  do  better. 

This  part  of  my  life  was  one  of  constant  la- 
bor and  toil,  and  but  little  remuneration.  I 
had  no  spare  funds  for  personal  indulgence. 
But  in  this  I  learned  industry,  economy,  and 
from  necessity  formed  temperate  habits. 
These  three  qualities  formed  and  fixed  in  the 
mind,  I  was  probably  better  prepared,  as  a 
poor  boy,  to  face  and  contend  with  the  world, 
than  if  I  had  been  raised  in  wealth  and  luxury. 
From  thirteen  years  of  age  to  twenty  was  spent 
principally  as  a  farm  servant,  remaining  two 
or  more  years  in  the  same  family,  and  by  in- 
dustry ajid  economy  I  was  able  to  clothe  my- 
self and  have  a  small  bank  account  in  my 
favor. 

At  the  age  of  twenty  I  became  deeply  con- 
cerned on  the  subject  of  religion.  I  then  ap- 
peared to  lose  all  inclination  for  worldly  amuse- 
ment and  pleasure.  My  mind  became  fully  ab- 
sorbed and  taken  up  with  the  thoughts  of  re- 
ligion. I  realized  I  was  not  right  in  the  sight 


Conversion  of  the  Author.  23 

of  God.  I  felt  fearful  and  in  danger.  I  felt 
I  was  not  safe  in  this  life,  nor  prepared  for  the 
life  to  come.  I  withdrew  from  all  my  worldly 
associates,  and  discarded  my  worldly  maxims, 
I  became  deeply  convicted  of  my  sinful  condi- 
tion before  a  pure  and  just  God.  I  remained  in 
this  condition  over  eighteen  months,  only  be- 
coming* more  and  more  so.  I  made  my  condi- 
tion known  to  no  one.  I  felt  the  Spirit  of  God 
was  convicting*  me  of  sin,  of  righteousness, 
and  of  judgment.  I  could  not  shake  it  off.  I 
felt  now  it  was  fearful  to  live,  and  more  fear- 
ful to  die.  I  became  almost  despondent.  Life 
had  become  a  burden — so  much  so  I  felt  willing- 
to  become  anything-  or  nothing-,  if  God  would 
only  have  mercy  upon  me  and  save  me  ;  and  at 
this  point,  in  my  extremity  and  penitence,  he 
did  so,  and  in  such  a  degree  and  such  a  way  I 
have  never  since  been  able  to  doubt.  God  par- 
doned my  sins,  and  g-ave  me  a  perfect  realiza- 
tion of  the  fact.  He  adopted  me  into  his  spir- 
itual family,  as  one  of  his  children,  and  g-ave 
me  all  the  proof  of  the  fact  I  could  desire.  I 
knew  then,  I  know  now,  there  is  a  divine  spir- 
itual reality  in  the  religion  of  the  New  Testa- 


24        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

ment.  I  now  felt  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad 
in  my  heart.  I  was  supremely  happy,  "rejoic- 
ing" with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory." 
My  cup  was  running1  over.  I  was  now,  if  possi- 
ble, more  happy  than  under  conviction  I  had  been 
miserable.  In  this,  God  had  given  me  all  nec- 
essary proof  of  the  fact  of  his  power  and  will- 
ingness to  save  a  poor,  sin-sick,  penitent  be- 
liever. The  proof  was  so  personal,  so  demon- 
strative, that  I  have  never  since  been  able  to 
call  it  in  question.  The  more  I  thought  of  it, 
and  criticised  it,  the  more  I  have  become  con- 
firmed in  the  fact. 

My  conviction  and  conversion  were  not  the  re- 
sult of  public  excitement  brought  about  by  hu- 
man means.  No  ;  it  was  a  matter  known  only 
to  God  and  myself. 

The  Spirit  of  God  and  its  happy  influence 
upon  my  own  heart  was  not  only  demonstrated 
to  myself  as  a  fact,  but  the  evil  spirit  of  the 
Evil  One  was  also  demonstrated  to  me  person- 
ally. A  few  weeks  after  my  conversion,  I  was 
attacked  by  the  spirit  and  power  of  the  devil. 
And  I  realized  that,  too,  as  personally  as  I  had 
previously  realized  the  good  spirit.  There  are 


Conversion  of  the  Author.  25 

many  honest,  sincere  professing-  Christians  who 
call  in  question  and  doubt  such  peculiar  Spirit 
experiences ;  and  of  course  such  doubts  only 
prove  that  those  in  doubt  have  never  had  such 
experience.  God's  dealing's  with  mankind  are 
not  always  the  same  with  every  person,'  and  I 
take  it  as  unwise,  should  my  experience  differ 
from  my  fellow's,  or  his  from  my  own,  to  say  my 
brother's  experience  is  a  mistake.  No,  in  many 
thing's  men's  experiences  differ.  Let  those 
who  have  never  enjoyed  the  love  of  God  richly 
shed  abroad  in  their  hearts,  be  silent  on  that 
subject,  -and  simply  say  for  themselves  that 
they  have  no  such  experience ;  but  for  myself,  I 
know  whereof  I  affirm.  I  know,  also,  that  such 
experience  is  taug*ht  in  the  New  Testament, 
and  was  enjoyed  by  the  primitive  followers 
of  Jesus  Christ.  Had  it  not  been  for  such  per- 
sonal experience  in  relation  to  the  Christian  re- 
lig-ion,  I  should  never  have  been  able  to  extri- 
cate myself  from  the  miry  swamps  of  Mormon- 
ism. 

Between  the  ag-e  of  twenty-four  and  twenty- 
five  I  married.  My  companion,  if  anything-, 
was  more  than  my  equal.  She  was  all  I  could 


26        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

wish  as  a  woman  and  a  wife.  Shortly  after 
our  marriag-e  we  moved  to  a  distant  locality, 
and  here  we  came  in  contact  with  the  Mormons, 
my  experience  and  observations  among-  whom 
will  be  found  in  the  following*  pagfes. 


CHAPTER   III. 
FIRST  CONTACT    WITH  THE  MORMONS. 

TWO  years  before  and  after  my  marriage,  I 
had  been  engaged  in  brick  and  tile  works. 
In  this  I  had  succeeded  financially.  At  this 
time  I  had  in  my  employ  a  Methodist  local 
preacher.  He  was  the  first  to  bring  the  L/atter- 
day  Saints,  or  Mormons,  to  my  notice.  He  ap- 
peared to  be  well  acquainted  with  them  as  a 
people  in  his  locality.  He  undertook  to  give 
me  an  account  of  them  as  a  people,  their  claims 
and  doctrines,  stating  as  a  religious  sect  or 
people  they  had  originated  in  America ;  that 
they  had  a  living  prophet  at  the  head  of  their 
church.  He  said  as  a  people  and  as  a  religious 
body,  they  claimed  to  represent  a  dispensation 
and  work  spoken  of  in  the  Bible  to  come  forth 
in  the  last  days  ;  hence  they  had  taken  the  name 
of  Latter-day  Saints.  He  said  they  were 
preaching  the  immediate  second  coming  of  Je- 
sus Christ  upon  the  earth,  to  save  his  people 
and  destroy  all  the  wicked ;  that  these  Latter- 

(27) 


28        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

day  Saints  were  now  gathering"  into  the  mount- 
ains of  America  as  a  place  of  preservation, 
while  the  judgments  of  God  were  to  fall  upon 
the  wicked  and  destroy  all  from  the  earth  who 
refused  to  obey  the  Latter-day  g'ospel  and  to 
gather  to  the  mountains  of  America  for  safety. 

After  listening  to  this  for  the  first  time,  and 
much  more  of  like  character  relating  to  this 
peculiar  people,  I  felt  strongly  inclined  to  make 
their  acquaintance  and  hear  them  preach. 

Since  my  conversion  everything  of  a  religious 
character  has  had  a  tendency  to  arrest  my  at- 
tention ;  and  hearing  these  marvelous  things 
about  the  Mormons,  I  was  very  much  inclined 
to  investigate  and  know  the  facts  relating  to 
them  as  a  religious  people. 

The  Mormons  had  organized  a  society  or 
branch  in  a  town  near  where  I  then  resided, 
and  the  first  opportunity  which  presented,  I 
visited  their  congregation.  I  found  them  a 
plain,  sociable  people.  I  at  once  felt  at  home 
with  them.  They  had  learned  "not  to  be  for- 
getful to  entertain  strangers."  There  was 
much  of  the  enjoyable  socially  among  them. 
They  were  evidently  of  the  poorer  or  humbler 


First  Contact  With  the  Mormons.         29 

walks  of  life ;  but  they  were  none  the  worse 
for  that ;  for  I  could  remember  Jesus  and  the 
masses  of  the  poor  who  g-athered  around  him. 
Their  meeting*  was  at  3  p.  m.  on  Sunday.  They 
partook  of  the  Lord's  supper,  or  bread  and 
wine.  I  did  not  partake  with  them — I  was  not 
now  of  them.  They  paid  particular  attention 
to  us,  for  my  oldest  brother  was  along"  at  that 
time.  After  the  Lord's  supper,  the  senior 
elder  took  the  stand  and  addressed  the  audi- 
ence. His  remarks  were  extempore.  He  was 
a  ready  talker,  was  very  much  in  earnest,  and 
very  enthusiastic  in  what  he  undertook  to  pre- 
sent. I  thought  at  the  time  he  had  almost 
touched  on  everything-  pertaining1  to  the  church, 
for  the  special  benefit  of  the  strangers  present. 
Commencing  at  the  orig-in  of  the  church,  he 
said  that  an  ang^el  of  God  had  appeared  to  Joseph 
Smith,  an  illiterate  youngf  man  in  America,  and 
had  made  known  to  him  the  Book  of  Mormon, 
which  he  had  translated  into  the  English  lan- 
g-uag^e,  which  was  a  record  of  the  aborigines,  or 
Indians,  of  America,  and  which  contained  the 
pure  g^ospel  as  made  known  to  them  by  Jesus 
Christ ;  that  the  Son  of  God  had  appeared  to 


30        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

them  many  centuries  ago ;  that  God,  the  eter- 
nal Father,  and  Jesus  Christ  his  Son,  had  ap- 
peared to  Smith  in  person,  and  made  known  to 
him  that  all  existing-  religions  were  wrong,  and 
of  the  Evil  One,  and  that  he  (God)  and  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ,  were  about  to  establish  a  great 
and  glorious  latter-day  work  on  the  earth,  and 
that  he  (Joseph  Smith)  was  the  chosen  instru- 
ment by  which  this  great  dispensation  should 
be  brought  about. 

The  elder  also  claimed  that  the  records  had 
been  given  to  Smith,  and  he  had  translated 
them,  and  they  now  constituted  the  Book  of 
Mormon,  which  he  then  held  in  his  hand,  and 
could  be  procured  and  examined  by  any  and  all 
who  wished  to  do  so ;  that  this  Book  of  Mor- 
mon contained  the  gospel  in  its  purity  for  this, 
the  latter  dispensation. 

The  elder  stated  very  emphatically  he  knew 
that  this  latter-day  work  was  of  God  ;  that  the 
church  of  the  present  dispensation  had  been  or- 
ganized, and  was  by  them  as  a  people  then  and 
there  represented  ;  also,  that  the  church  pos- 
sessed all  the  spiritual  gifts  of  healing,  and  all 
the  miraculous  power  of  God  and  Jesus  Christ 


First  Contact  With  the  Mormons.         31 

as  they  were  manifested  and  enjoyed  by  Jesus 
and  his  apostles ;  and  that  he  (the  elder)  had 
witnessed  some  of  these  manifestations  for  him- 
self, and  knew  whereof  he  spoke.  Others,  at 
the  testimonial  part  of  their  meeting-,  had  tes- 
tified to  similar  personal  manifestations,  and 
expressed  equal  confidence  in  the  claims  of  the 
church.  The  elder  also  stated  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  soon  to  make  his  second  advent  into 
the  world,  and  the  righteous  would  be  saved 
by  gathering  to  the  mountain  home  of  the  saints 
in  Salt  Lake  Valley  in  Utah,  while  the  wicked 
would  all  soon  be  destroyed  from  off  the  earth. 
The  saints  then  would  own  and  possess  the 
earth,  and  delight  themselves  in  the  wealth  and 
abundance  (which  the  wicked  had  procured  for 
them)  a  thousand  years.  The  elder's  remarks 
to  myself  were  truly  startling.  I  could  have 
but  one  misgiving  at  this  time,  and  that  was, 
How  can  I  know  for  n^self  that  these  claims 
are  true? 

After  the  elder  closed  his  remarks,  he,  with 
a  number  of  his  brethren,  gathered  around  me, 
to  make  my  acquaintance.  They  asked  me 
many  questions.  I  said  to  the  elder  that  his 


32        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

remarks  and  subject  were  to  me  strange,  ad- 
mitting-, at  the  same  time,  if  the  claim  he  had 
set  up  for  Smith  and  the  church  could  be  proven, 
or  made  clear  to  my  mind  as  a  fact,  that  I  should 
look  upon  the  whole  matter  as  very  important ; 
admitting-,  as  I  did,  that  the  present  was  the 
first  time  I  had  met  with  them,  and  that  I  had 
heard  but  little  of  them  ;  stating-  that  his  dis- 
course embraced  important  tiding-s,  and  I  should 
consider  them  such  could  they  be  made  known 
to  me.  I  told  him,  also,  that  I  should  be  free 
to  use  any  means  at  my  command  to  prove 
them.  At  this  personal  interview  he  manifest- 
ed much  interest  in  me.  I  told  him  I  should 
endeavor  to  meet  with  them  in  the  future,  and 
seek  a  more  extended  and  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  them,  saying-,  as  their  claims  were  so 
divinely  hig-h,  they  were  the  more  important ; 
that  it  was  due  I  should  be  the  more  careful  in 
investigating-  them.  To  "prove  all  thing's  and 
hold  fast  that  which  is  g-ood"  had  become  a 
settled  maxim  with  me.  The  elder  had  refer- 
red to  the  peculiar  org-anic  structure  of  the 
church,  as  having-  in  it  apostles,  prophets,  and 
the  various  orders  of  priesthood,  which,  to  my 


First  Contact  With  the  Mormons.         33 

mind,  appeared  very  formal.  He  also  alluded 
to  what  he  was  pleased  to  call  the  first  princi- 
ples— faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  repentance,  bap- 
tism by  immersion,  and  the  laying*  on  of  hands 
for  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  elder's 
remarks  on  much  of  the  priesthood  led  me  to 
suspect  that  there  was  an  undue  amount  of 
form  and  ceremony  about  them,  and  suggested 
to  me  an  unnecessary  amount  of  human  official 
authority.  I  have  always  felt  an  abhorrence  to 
undue  official  authority — official  importance — 
and  while  the  speaker  and  many  of  the  others 
stated  they  knew  the  work — the  church — was 
of  God,  they  offered  no  proof  to  that  effect. 
Hence,  their  testimony  had  but  little  weight. 
The  preacher  declared,  as  a  prediction,  or 
promise,  that  if  any  would  obey  the  gospel 
as  presented  by  the  Latter-day  Saints,  they 
would  or  should  know  for  themselves  that 
the  church  was  the  veritable  institution  of  God. 
But  just  then  I  was  far  from  accepting  his  of- 
fer ;  yet  he  made  his  statements  so  positive  and 
emphatic,  that  it  looked  like  calling  in  question 
his  word  to  refuse. 

I  had  professed  religion  for  five  years.     By 
3 


34        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

this  time  I  had  learned,  in  the  midst  of  so  much 
difference  on  religion,  that  even  preachers 
might  sometimes  be  mistaken  or  misled.  I  was 
unable  to  treat  the  subject  as  it  had  been  pre- 
sented with  indifference.  I  reasoned  within 
myself,  if  this  is  a  new  latter-day  manifesta- 
tion of  God  to  the  world  of  mankind,  it  was 
but  due  on  my  part  to  investigate  it,  and  accept 
it  should  I  find  it  to  be  true.  Accordingly,  I 
proposed  to  look  into  it. 

I  had  now  discovered,  in  order  to  enter  the 
church  I  must  have  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
savior  of  the  world.  This  I  had  accepted  as 
found  in  the  Bible.  Repentance  of  all  known 
sin  I  could  accept,  and  had  endeavored  to  act 
on  this  for  at  least  five  years.  Baptism  by  im- 
mersion looked  to  me  more  favorable  from  a 
Bible  standpoint  than  any  other  mode,  though 
I  had  not  been  immersed  as  an  adult  believer. 
The  laying  on  of  hands  by  their  priesthood  for 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  looked  to  me  a  se- 
rious undertaking.  I  could  but  think  on  this 
point  the  Mormon  church  might  be  tested, 
whether  it  be  of  God  or  not.  I  could  realize 
if  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  their  elders 


First  Contact  With  the  Mormons.         35 

the  Holy  Ghost  was  conferred,  that  surely,  as 
proof  of  the  fact,  there  would  be  a  conscious 
or  visible  manifestation.  I  could  by  no  means 
think  that  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the 
Spirit  of  the  living-  and  true  God,  could  be  re- 
ceived and  possessed  by  a  person  and  the  per- 
son so  possessing  the  Spirit  not  be  conscious  of 
it.  Paith,  repentance  and  baptism  might  be 
passed  over  in  a  formal  way,  and  prove  nothing 
in  behalf  of  Mormonism,  pro  or  con,  only  that 
such  were  taug'ht  in  the  Bible.  But  the  laying 
on  of  hands  for  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  pro- 
poses that  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  in  fact  be  con- 
ferred by  the  administrator  on  the  candidate ; 
and  to  receive  it  surely  is  to  be  conscious  of  it, 
and  not  to  be  conscious  of  it  is  not  to  receive  it. 
Hence,  for  any  Mormon  elder  to  confer  the 
Holy  Ghost  upon  another,  he  must  needs  pos- 
sess it  himself  ;  and  could  he  prove  this  fact 
upon  himself  or  upon  his  candidate,  he  could  at 
once  settle  the  divine  authenticity  of  his  relig- 
ion. But  faith,  repentance,  and  baptism  were 
antecedents  to  the  laying  on  of  hands  for  the 
gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  refuse  baptism 
was  to  refuse  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  the}^  would 


36        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

look  upon  it.  Their  preachers  were  not  slow 
to  promise  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the 
miraculous  sense. 

There  were  a  number  of  missionaries  from 
Salt  Lake  in  England  at  that  time.  I  made 
the  acquaintance  of  a  number  of  them,  making- 
many  inquiries  about  America  as  such,  and  Salt 
Lake  in  particular.  But  these  missionaries 
from  America  were  slow  to  answer  many  ques- 
tions about  Salt  Lake  and  the  people  there.  I 
proved  they  would  state  the  opposite  of  fact 
when  closely  pressed ;  but  they  preferred  not 
to  be  questioned  very  closely  about  Utah,  espe- 
cially about  the  real  condition  of  things,  polyg- 
amy, etc. 

The  masses  of  the  members  of  the  church  in 
England  appeared  to  be  more  devoted  to  the 
church  and  its  peculiarities  as  a  church  than  to 
God  and  Jesus  Christ..  They  acted  more  like 
nominal  members  of  national  churches  than 
true  converts  to  God  and  his  son  Jesus  Christ. 
I  felt  sure  their  religion  was  more  formal  and 
natural  than  spiritual.  But  they  were  per- 
secuted by  all  other  sects  of  religion,  and  that 
but  served  to  unite  them  firmly  to  one  another. 


First  Contact  With  the  Mormons.         37 

My  own  religious  experience  and  information 
at  this  time  were  very  limited,  and  as  such  it 
was  not  difficult  for  some  of  the  more  skilled 
and  experienced  preachers  to  prove  more  than 
my  equal.  Hence,  I  was  more  or  less  at  their 
mercy  on  the  Bible,  and  entirely  at  their  mercy 
on  matters  relating-  to  Salt  Lake.  They  had 
every  advantage  over  the  simple,  uninformed 
masses  of  the  people  in  those  old  countries. 
They  knew  just  what  to  say  and  what  to  with- 
hold from  them.  The  object  of  these  mission- 
aries was  to  proselyte  and  convert  the  people 
to  Mormonism. 

From  a  boy  I  had  been  strongly  inclined  to- 
ward America.  I  had  read  many  histories  of 
it  as  a  country,  and  some  years  before  this  had 
made  preparations  to  emigrate ;  but  circum- 
stances over  which  I  had  no  control  prevented. 
My  strong  inclination  to  go  to  America  was  not 
without  its  influence  on  my  mind  to  incline  me 
more  favorably  toward  those  American  mission- 
aries. It  is  not  difficult  to  lead  a  man  where 
he  has  strong  inclinations  to  go.  The  Mor- 
mons of  America,  in  this  particular,  had  some 
advantage  in  my  own  case. 


38        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

But  this  new  religion  and  the  present  associ- 
ations with  this  people  were  but  the  beginning* 
of  a  series  of  circumstances  and  events  in  my 
life  which  were  to  follow.  This  was  but  my 
beginning  with  this  people,  and  I  knew  not 
then  what  was  slumbering  in  the  future.  Here 
I- had  commenced  a  term  in  a  new  religious 
school,  to  receive  lessons  of  experience,  without 
which  I  realize  now  my  life  would  have  been 
less  complete.  And  while  it  was  to  cost  me 
my  all,  financially,  and  endanger  my  life,  I 
thank  God,  who  allowed  me  to  go  through  it, 
protected  me  while  in  it,  and  led  me  out  with 
so  profitable  and  necessary  an  experience.  I  feel 
now  while  writing,  in  this  the  sixty-seventh 
year  of  my  life,  that  the  Lord  has  been  my 
shepherd  for  forty-six  years  of  my  religious 
life.  Yes,  I  now  see  plainly  many  marks  of 
his  divine  providence  in  my  favor.  Mankind 
appears  to  be  in  life's  school  for  an  education, 
and  our  great  and  good  Lord  knows  what  is 
best  for  each  and  every  one  of  us.  By  his  prov- 
idence he  directs  the  school  of  human  life,  and 
I  can  dare  to  trust  him  as  my  best  and  most 
competent  school  director,  who  will  manage 


First  Contact  With  the  Mormons.         39 

thing's  to  and  for  my  greatest  good  and  his 
own  g"lory.  For,  if  he  watches  the  sparrows 
fall,  surely  he  has  care  for  the  children  of 
men. 

I  was  now  mingling"  with  the  Mormons  free- 
ly, and  invited  them  to  my  home.  I  was  anx- 
ious to  have  opportunities  to  interview  them, 
especially  the  missionaries  from  America.  But 
on  many  thing's  they  were  slow  to  answer. 
They  would  tell  us  it  was  not  well  for  us  to 
know  too  much,  for  we  were  but  babes  in  the 
church,  and  were  unable  to  eat  strong-  meat. 
They  would  acknowledg-e  they  had  many  thing's 
to  say  unto  us  ;  but  as  Jesus  said  to  his  disci- 
ples, "Ye  cannot  bear  them  now,"  they 
would  tell  us  we  must  * '  be  fed  on  the  milk  of 
the  word  of  God."  The.  only  use  they  ap- 
peared to  have  for  the  Bible  was  to  draw  peo- 
ple into  their  system,  and  keep  them  obedient 
and  quiet  when  in.  They  were  never  at  a  loss 
for  scripture  to  baffle  and  control  the  more  rest- 
less. They  could  "become  all  thing's  to  all 
men,"  and  if  necessary  they  would  resort  to 
g*uile.  They  were  truly  wolves  in  sheep's 
clothing-,  but  at  that  time  we  knew  it  not. 


40        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

The  church  had  been  organized  about  twen- 
ty-two years,  and  by  this  time  they  had  among* 
them  many  trained  advocates  of  their  system. 
When  we  would  ask  them  if  polygamy  was 
practiced  by  them  in  Utah,  some  would  evade, 
and  if  pressed  very  closely,  would  actually  and 
flatly  deny.  I  found  out  that  it  was  common 
for  a  real  Mormon  to  misrepresent  in  behalf  of 
,  the  church. 

About  this  time— the  fall  of  1853— after  posi- 
tively denying  the  practice  of  polygamy  in  Utah, 
they  fully  acknowledged  it  and  undertook  to  de- 
fend it.  At  such  a  contradiction  of  thing's  I  felt 
ashamed  for  them  when  I  was  among1  strangers, 
they  having-  but  a  short  time  before  denied  po- 
lygamy, and  now  defending  it  and  owning  to  it 
as  being  practiced  among  them  many  years. 
I  felt  on  this  subject  and  conduct  on  their 
part,  there  was  nothing  godlike  or  divine  either 
in  the  polygamic  practice  or  in  the  way  they 
had  acted  about  it.  It  proved  to  my  mind  they 
were  capable  of  practicing  deception  and  pure 
falsehood.  But  this  they  undertook  to  modify 
by  calling  it  celestial  marriage,  and  only  re- 
lated to  a  celestial  or  higher  order  of  Christian 


First  Contact  With  the  Mormons.         41 

life,  and  that  plurality  of  wives  only  meant 
spiritual  wives  for  a  future  or  celestial  state  ; 
but  I  afterward  found  out  to  the  contrary,  and 
that  polygamy  meant  a  plurality  of  actual  wives 
in  this  life,  and  had  been  practiced  by  them  as 
a  people  in  the  latter  part  of  the  life  of  Joseph 
Smith,  and  ever  since. 

Such  deception  and  secrecy  led  to  increase 
my  doubt  of  the  system  ;  but  they  now  con- 
tended that  I  could  by  no  means  prove  the 
church  to  be  of  God  unless  I  would  comply  with 
its  first  principles.  For,  said  they,  the  knowl- 
edge that  the  church  is  of  God  is  only  to  be  at- 
tained in  the  church,  and  not  out  of  it.  They 
contended  that  God  could  and  would  only  man- 
ifest the  truth  of  his  church  to  me  as  I  will- 
ingly obeyed  its  demands — the  first  principles 
of  the  church— or,  as  they  would  have  it,  "  the 
latter-day  gospel."  I  felt  now  there  was 
reason  in  their  favor,  and  to  be  candid  with 
them  and  myself,  the  only  way  to  test  the  mat- 
ter was  to  try  it.  They  now  urged  me  to  ob- 
serve the  first  principles  as  taught  by  the 
church.  This  done,  they  assured  me,  by  means 
of  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  I  would  become 


42        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

fully;  persuaded  that  the  church  was  truly  the 
church  of  God.  I  realized  now  the  critical 
condition  I  had  reached,  or  they  had  led  me  to. 
I  here  thought  it  was  possible  their  claims  for 
the  church  might  be  true,  and  I  had  no  means 
within  my  reach  to  prove  it  otherwise,  for  their 
headquarters  were  in  America,  and  I  could  not 
demonstrate  the  fallacy  of  their  system  with- 
out going  there,  unless  some  miraculous  act  on 
the  part  of  God  should  prove  to  me  beyond  all 
doubt  that  the  system  as  a  church  was  the  ver- 
itable church  of  God. 

I  was  now  bound  to  accept  their  proposition 
or  prove  a  lack  of  good  faith  on  my  own  part. 
What  could  I  now  do?  There  was  nothing  for 
me  to  do  but  reject  or  accept  their  proposal, 
and  prove,  know  or  not  know,  whether  this 
new  American  religious  institution,  so  marvel- 
ous in  its  claims,  was  of  God  or  not.  I  ac- 
cepted their  offer ;  was  baptized — immersed— 
the  elder  using  the  common  Christian  formula, 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost.  I  had  thought,  in  my  baptism,  in  the 
first  manifestation  of  compliance  to  the  church 
on  my  own  part,  if  the  church  was  in  fact  the 


First  Contact  With  the  Mormons.         43 

divine  institution  of  God,  that  he  might  grant 
me  some  conscious  manifestation  of  the  fact. 
But  no ;  God  and  the  Holy  Spirit  were  yet  si- 
lent. All  was  formal  and  spiritless.  God  and 
the  fruits  of  the  Holy  Spirit  were  in  no  sense 
manifest  in  my  baptism.  No ;  the  spirit  eind 
letter  of  the  law  are  not  necessarily  united.  I 
had.  some  five  years  before  this,  received  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  absence  of  the  letter,  and 
now  I  had  received  the  letter  of  the  law — bap- 
tism— without  the  Spirit.  By  the  outward 
form  of  baptism  I  had  entered  the  outward 
church.  Organicalty  considered,  I  was  now  a 
part  of  it.  But  I  doubted  then,  and  I  have 
doubted  more  so  since,  that  in  any  sense  it  was 
recognised  of  God,  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  or  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  No;  it  was  like*  Elijah's 
storm  in  the  mountain — God  was  not  in  it.  But 
in  this,  and  at  that  time,  I  learned  the  pos- 
sibility of  having  a  form  of  godliness  with- 
out the  power.  I  was  baptized  in  the  beauti- 
ful river  Nidd  ;  all  nature  smiled,  but  God  was 
silent. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
EXPERIENCE    IN    JOINING    THE    CHURCH. 

I  WAS  at  once  confirmed,  or  received  the  lay- 
ing- on  of  the  hands  of  the  elders  for  the  gift 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  this,  the  church  as  insti- 
tuted by  Joseph  Smith  ever  proposed  to  confer 
the  Holy  Ghost  upon  the  candidate.  Did  they,  in 
my  own  case,  confer  upon  me  the  Holy  Ghost 
in  the  miraculous  sense,  or  any  other  sense? 
My  answer  is,  No,  not  in  any  divine  sense  what- 
ever. If  in  any  sense  I  received  the  Holy  Spirit 
of  God  I  was  absolutely  unconscious  of  it. 
No,  dear  reader,  the  Spirit  of  the  true  and  liv- 
ing- God  was  not  in  it,  and  ag-ain  I  proved  the 
Mormon  form  without  the  divine  Spirit  of  God 
accompanying-  it.  I  was  now  a  reg-ularly  con- 
firmed member  of  the  church,  without  any  di- 
vine proof  that  it  was  the  church  of  God.  Yes, 
step  by  step  I  was  now  drifting-  with  it,  appar- 
ently unavoidably  so. 

Had  I  not,  five  years  ag-o,   in  my  conversion, 
received  such  an  overwhelming-  proof  of  the  in- 
(44) 


Experience  in  Joining- the  Church.         45 

fluence  and  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  my 
whole  being- ;  had  not  God  given  me  such  an 
irresistible,  unquestionable  proof  of  my  accept- 
ance and  adoption  into  his  family ;  had  I  not 
in  this  particular  received  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
give  me  a  knowledge  of  its  workings  and  power, 
I  should,  no  doubt  have  accepted  the  Mormon 
forms  of  religion  and  never  called  them  in  ques- 
tion. "  The  things  of  the  Spirit  are  discerned 
by  the  Spirit ;  the  natural  man  receiveth  not 
the  things  of  the  Spirit ;  neither  can  he  know 
them,  because  they  are  spiritually  discerned." 
Surely,  "to  receive  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God 
would  be  to  know  it,  and  not  to  know  it  would 
be  not  to  receive  it."  At  the  laying  on  of  the 
hands  of  these  Mormon  elders,  I  did  not  know 
I  received  the  Holy  Ghost ;  hence  was  sure  I 
did  not  receive  it.  No ;  it  was  another  Mor- 
mon form  without  the  power ;  a  vain,  human 
form  established  by  Joseph  Smith  in  his  church; 
an  aping  on  the  part  of  Smith  of  the  apostles 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

Surely  these  Mormon  elders  never  enjoyed  or 
received  the  Holy  Spirit  themselves,  much  less 
conferred  it  upon  others.  I  am  sure  there  are 


46        Marmonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

comparatively  but  few  knowing*  deceivers  among* 
the  Mormons — the  masses  of  them  are  deceived. 
I  can  but  think  many  of  these  officiating*  elders 
from  Utah  were  sincere  but  were  themselves 
deceived  ;  they  had  been  misled,  like  thousands 
of  others,  and  had  been  trained  in  the  formal- 
ities of  the  system,  and  no  doubt  many  of  them 
looked  upon  their  church  as  being*  rig'ht,  to  the 
total  exclusion  of  all  others. 

The  thing's  which  man  does  not  know  lead 
him  to  fall  into  many  unfortunate  pits,  and  un- 
dertake many  pursuits  which  are  unprofitable 
and  damaging*  to  himself  as  well  as  his  fellows. 
This  same  thoug*ht  will  apply  very  larg*ely  to 
many  of  the  Mormons.  I  have  sometimes  won- 
dered if  to  some  extent  this  would  not  apply  to 
Joseph  Smith,  who  would  appear  to  have  been 
led  captive  of  the  Evil  One  at  his  will. 

I  can  but  admit  that  the  masses  of  the  con- 
verts to  Mormonism  are  sincere,  and  by  means 
of  Joseph  Smith  and  the  system  of  religion  he 
has  instituted,  are  simply  deceived.  No  differ- 
ence as  to  our  religion  (only  in  kind),  whether 
it  be  true  or  false,  each  can  be  alike  sincere. 
But  truth,  and  a  religion  of  truth  and  fact,  is 


Experience  in  Joining"  the  Church.         47 

ever  preferable  and  the  most  profitable  all 
through  this  life  and  ma}^  be  trusted  for  the  life 
to  come.  Religion  presented  from  so  many  dif- 
ferent standpoints  is  misleading  to  the  masses. 
I  was  now  admonished  to  be  ordained  to  the 
priesthood.  All  male  members  are  supposed 
to  belong-  to  some  part  of  the  priesthood  as  the 
only  means  of  exaltation.  The  priesthood  is 
supposed  to  exalt  the  man,  and  in  return  the 
man  has  to  exalt  the  woman.  I  was  now  or- 
dained to  the  office  of  priest.  The  Mormon 
church  provides  for  two  distinct  orders  of  the 
priesthood,  the  higher  called  the  Melchisedek, 
the  lower  called  the  Aaronic.  The  higher 
consists  of  five  grades  or  orders — the  first  pres- 
idency, the  twelve  apostles,  the  high  priest,  the 
seventies,  and  the  elders.  The  second  or  lower 
order  of  priesthood — the  Aaronic — consists  of 
three  orders  or  grades — the  priest,  the  teacher, 
and  the  deacon.  I  was  ordained  a  priest.  I  had 
taken  part  at  times,  speaking  in  public,  but  I 
was  not  by  any  means  a  zealot  or  enthusiast  on 
the  subject  of  Mormonism ;  for  I  was  in  doubt, 
and  needed  to  be  taught  and  to  learn  rather  than 
be  a  teacher  of  others.  My  ordination  to  the 


48        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

priesthood  was  but  formal ;  its  exercises  or  cer- 
emonial part  was  as  lifeless  and  cold  as  the 
frigid  zone.  There  was  no  inspiration  or 
priestly  spirit  or  zeal  conferred  upon  me  by  the 
hands  of  the  officiating*  elders.  I  did  not  know 
a  thing*  about  the  divinity  of  the  church, 
nor  about  anything  else,  that  I  did  not  know 
before.  It  was  dead  formality — the  letter  with- 
out the  spirit.  It  was  strictly  human,  and  not 
divine.  To  myself  it  was  much  like  babies 
playing-  old  folks ;  the  only  difference  I  could 
see  was  that  it  was  little  priest  playing-  big- 
priest,  and  the  world  is  full  of  it ;  and  the 
Mormons,  on  ceremonial  forms  and  grades  of 
priesthood,  for  their  ag-e,  are  not  a  whit  behind 
the  best  of  them. 

But  I  was  in  the  church  now,  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  as  far  as  ceremony  could  gx> ;  and 
I  had  made  up  my  mind  about  this  time,  in  the 
near  future  to  gx>  to  America  by  way  of  the 
Mormon  church,  and  by  so  doing-  fully  test  the 
divine  nature  of  both  church  and  people. 

In  the  absence  of  divine  spirituality  in  any 
organic  system  of  relig-ion  it  is  always  soug-ht 
to  be  supplied  with  the  human  ceremonial  or 


Experience  in  Joining- the  Church.         49 

formal.  In  the  absence  of  true  religion,  a  false 
one  must  or  does  obtain.  Man  is  not  able  to  be 
neutral  on  religion.  While  it  is  impossible  for 
him  to  serve  God  and  mammon,  it  is  equally 
impossible  for  him  to  serve  neither.  "  God  is 
a  spirit,  and  they  that  worship  him  must 
worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth."  The  re- 
ligion of  Joseph  Smith  is  ceremonial  and  form- 
al— superabundantly  so.  There  is  formality 
enough  in  it  to  save  a  number  of  fallen  worlds 
like  our  own,  if  forms  and  ceremonies  did  but 
possess  saving  power. 

But  now  to  cast  up  to  the  present:  The  elders 
had  made  their  promise ;  they  had  dictated  the 
terms ;  I  had  accepted  their  propositions ;  had 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ ;  had  repented  ;  had  been 
baptized  ;  had  received  the  laying  on  of  hands, 
and  had  been  ordained  to  the  priesthood — this 
done  by  the  power  and  authority  of  Mormon 
legal  priesthood,  and  now  what  was  the  result? 
Did  I  receive  a  knowledge  of  the  facts  prom- 
ised? My  answer  is,  No,  not  in  the  least.  I 
was  perfectly  passive  in  the  whole  matter.  I 
was  perfectly  willing  that  God's  will  should 
be  done.  But  no — I  say  it  before  God  and 
4 


50        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refitted. 

man — there  was  not  in  the  remotest  sense  the 
least  manifestation  of  God  as  proof  to  me  that 
Joseph  Smith  and  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-day  Saints  were  of  God. 

Their  excuse  was,  that  God  in  his  own  due 
time  and  wisdom  would  make  these  thing's 
known  to  me,  and  admonished  me  to  trust  him, 
and  go  on  doing"  my  duty  in  the  church,  and  God 
would  use  me  according*  to  his  own  g-ood  pleas- 
ure, and  make  me  useful  in  the  church.  I  have 
ever  felt  that  God  would  do  all  his  pleasure 
with  and  for  me  ever  since  he  took  me  into  his 
family  and  vineyard.  I  think  so  yet.  I  can 
but  think  and  feel  while  I  am  writing*  the  pres- 
ent book  to  expose  and  refute  them  as  a  relig*- 
ious  system  and  people,  that  even  now  God  is 
using-  me  in  his  order  of  divine  arrangement.  I 
have  often  thoug-ht  and  felt,  as  Joseph  was 
sold  to  the  Ishmaelites,  in  the  providence  of 
God,  for  g-ood,  so  I  was  sold  and  bought  by  the 
Mormons  for  some  ultimate  gfood. 

It  was  common  with  them  as  a  people,  al 
most  without  exception,   in  their  public  meet- 
ing's, preaching-  and  testimonies,   to  state  that 
they  personally  knew,  by  manifestations  which 


Experience  in  Joining' the  Church.         51 

God  had  given  them,  that  this  latter-day  work 
was  of  God,  and  that  they  knew  Joseph  Smith 
was  a  true  prophet  of  God.  Their  testimonies, 
viewed  from  a  natural  standpoint,  were  almost 
irresistible.  I  confess,  when  listening  to  such 
positive  testimonies,  that  if  human  religious 
testimonies  can  in  any  way  be  relied  upon, 
surely  they  knew  whereof  they  spoke. 

I  was  unable  to  say  I  knew  the  system  was 
of  God,  and  many  of  them  knew  I  had  doubts, 
and  the  more  fanatical  looked  upon  me  as  a 
weak  brother.  But  I  have  found  in  more  ad- 
vanced life,  that  we  are  all  more  or  less  creat- 
ures of  education — like  parents,  like  children  ; 
like  teachers,  like  pupils.  And  the  Mormons, 
as  a  people,  from  Joseph  Smith  to  the  present, 
have  always  indulged  in  the  claim  of  knowing* 
personally  that  the  church  was  of  God.  But 
it  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  stretch  of 
imagination  in  the  absence  of  demonstrative 
proof.  The  word  knowledge  with  them  ap- 
pears to  have  lost  its  true  signification,  and 
they  use  it  in  place  of  belief.  It  is  a  mis- 
use of  language,  and  has  its  influence  upon  the 
more  ignorant  to  mislead.  I  have  found,  as  a 


52        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

rule  almost  without  exception,  in  my  associa- 
tion with  the  Mormons,  that  when  you  ask  the 
over-confident  part  of  them  for  a  reason  or 
proof  of  their  claim  to  know  that  the  church 
is  of  God,  their  proof  is  absolutely  inadequate 
or  wanting-,  and  it  evidently  arises  from  a  de- 
sire to  have  it  so,  rather  than  from  the  facts 
that  g-o  to  prove  it. 

There  is  throughout  the  Bible  taught  and 
manifest  two  religions — the  true  and  the  false, 
the  one  of  God,  the  other  of  Satan.  There  are 
two  inspiring-  spirits  that  act  on  mankind — the 
Spirit  of  God  and  the  Spirit  of  Satan.  Man- 
kind to  some  extent  is  actuated  by  these  two 
adverse  spirits.  They  are  seen  in  the  Garden 
of  Eden  ;  they  are  both  spoken  of  and  referred 
to  from  the  first  of  Genesis  to  the  last  of  Rev- 
elation. The  Mormon  religion,  from  first  to 
last,  is  of  such  a  nature  that  it  is  absolutely 
true  or  absolutely  false.  It  is  strictly  of  God 
and  altogether  rig^ht,  or  it  is  strictly  of  Satan 
and  altogether  wrong-.  Joseph  Smith,  the 
founder  of  Mormonism,  is  the  absolute,  true 
prophet  of  God,  or  he  is  the  absolute,  false 
prophet  of  Satan.  I  am  far  from  believing 


Experience  in  Joining- the  Church.         53 

that  such  prominent  characters  as  Moses,  Je- 
sus Christ,  Mahomet,  Joseph  Smith,  and  many 
others,  are  simply  natural  men,  uninfluenced 
by  one  or  the  other  of  those  two  opposing  spir- 
its represented  in  the  Bible.  No ;  such  char- 
acters are  moved  and  actuated  by  the  true 
Spirit  of  God  or  by  the  false  Spirit  of  Satan. 
Joseph  Smith  was  inspired,  prompted  and  act- 
uated by  one  of  these  two  spirits. 

Readers,  as  I  present  facts  relating-  to  the 
Mormons  and  to  Jesus  Christ,  judge  ye.  From 
my  own  experience  and  observation  so  far,  I 
am  in  dotibt  of  the  divine  claims  of  Joseph 
Smith  and  the  religion  he  instituted.  I  was 
led  into  Mormonism  for  the  purpose  of  testing- 
its  claims,  and  now  I  was  disposed  to  test  it  to 
a  finish.  At  this  time  I  was  looked  upon  among- 
them  as  a  doubting-  Thomas.  My  testimony  in 
public  was  not  looked  upon  as  at  par,  and  at  times 
I  was  made  to  feel  it  by  the  less  noble.  No 
doubt  they  thoug'ht  I  was  wanting-  on  my  own 
part  as  a  reason  why  God  did  not  make  known 
to  me  that  the  church  was  all  right,'  and  enable 
me  to  feel  as  they  felt.  I  felt,  under  these  cir- 
cumstances, not  to  violate  mv  own  convictions 


54        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

by  professing-  what  I  did  not  possess.  I  have 
ever  felt  that  God  honors  and  defends  the  per- 
son who  stands  by  his  honest  convictions.  I 
frequently  had  them  feeling  restless,  and  a 
little  of  the  carnal  man  generating  in  them 
when  pressing  them  close  for  proof  of  their 
high  professions ;  and  like  all  false  positions 
taken  and  held,  when  criticised  closely  they 
would  manifest  the  unpleasant  appearance  of 
the  carnal  man.  A  false  religion  will  never 
bear  close  questioning. 

My  attention  had  been  called  to  their  claims 
to  the  miraculous  healing  of  the  sick.  Their 
order  in  this  was  to  anoint  the  sick  with  con- 
secrated olive  oil,  lay  hands  on  the  head  of  the 
sick,  and  by  authority  vested  in  them  rebuke  the 
disease  or  affliction,  asking  God's  assistance. 
They  claimed  to  possess  divine  power  to  heal 
all  manner  of  diseases  and  sickness,  as  in  the 
days  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  apostles.  During 
my  connection  with  them  in  England  I  wit- 
nessed several  of  their  attempts  to  heal  the 
sick  and  afflicted  ;  but  I  have  here  to  acknowl- 
edge that  in  every  case  it  was  a  complete  fail- 
ure. As  proof  of  this  fact  I  give  the  follow- 


Experience  in  Joining"  the  Church.        55 

ing* :  We  had  in  our  branch  or  congregation  a 
very  prominent  young*  lady  who  was  an  inva- 
lid. She  was  a  reg-ular  member  of  the  church. 
She  had  received  the  administration  ordinance 
several  times  by  different  regular  elders  of  the 
church,  some  of  them  missionaries  from  Utah. 
I  witnessed  several  of  these  myself.  But  all 
were  failures  in  the  absolute  sense.  This  young", 
intelligent,  refined  sister  of  the  church  was 
beloved  by  all  around  her.  Neighbors,  .Mor- 
mons and  otherwise,  took  interest  in  her.  She 
had  been  led  to  join  the  church  in  hope  of  being* 
restored.  Promises  to  this  effect  had  led  her 
on.  Special  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  elders  at 
different  times  had  been  resorted  to,  but  all  to 
no  effect.  Poor,  noble  woman,  she  was  still 
left  on  the  couch  of  the  invalid.  That  dear 
sister  had  been  led  on  step  by  step  into  the 
church  with  the  hope  of  being-  restored,  as  I 
myself  had  been  led  on  in  hope  of  proving-  to 
me  that  the  church  was  the  very  church  of  God. 
But  in  both  cases  we  had  failed.  Yes,  Mor- 
monism  was  ever  proving*  itself  a  lamentable 
failure.  This  young-  lady  sister  shortly  after 
was  treated  by  an  eminent  physician  and  was 


56        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

fully   restored.     She   also  withdrew   from  the 
church,  it  having-  proved  itself  a  failure. 

And  now,  what  can  I  say  for  the  g-ift  of  heal- 
ing- in  the  church?  I  need  not  here  say  any- 
thing-. The  church  in  this  case,  as  in  the  past 
so  far,  spoke  for  itself,  and  wrote  on  its  own 
doorpost,  No  healing'  inside.  But  this  was 
but  the  first  case  of  healing-  failure  witnessed 
by  the  writer ;  many  more  such  like  were  to 
follow. 


CHAPTER-  V. 
EXPERIENCE  AND  OBSERVATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

THE  Aiders  at  this  time  seeing-  that.  I  was 
not  being*  confirmed  in  the  faith,  directed 
my  attention  to  the  actual  Zion  in  Salt  Lake, 
saying1  that  when  I  came  in  contact  with  the 
priesthood  and  people  in  Zion  I  should  become 
fully  satisfied.  Yes,  "I  saw  the  bag-  of  g-old 
was  yet  at  the  end  of  the  rainbow." 

But  I  had  now  fully  made  up  my  mind  to  g*o 
to  America  for  the  sake  of  America,  and  at  the 
same  time  take  in-  the  Mormon  Zion.  I  had  no 
difficulty  in  making-  up  my  mind  to  gr>  to  Salt 
Lake,  for  that  was  in  America,  where  I  had 
wished  to  gx>,  and  especially  at  this  time,  hav- 
ing- by  me  sufficient  funds  for  the  journey.  I 
felt  at  this  time  that  America,  for  the  sake  of 
America,  had  more  to  do  with  my  g^oing-  to  Salt 
Lake  than  the  church  itself.  I  was  now  fully 
made  up  to  emigrate,  felt  sure  I  should  better 
my  condition  by  doing-  so ;  but  I  had  serious 
doubts  about  the  Mormon  part  of  the  people  and 

country. 

(57) 


58        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

At  this  time  I  was  reading-  and  studying- 
books  after  the  most  prominent  authors,  many 
of  whom  were  my  superiors  in  Bible  knowl- 
edge. They  made  many  passag-es  of  scripture 
more  plain  to  my  mind.  On  Bible  matters,  in 
some  thing's  they  were  more  than  my  equal. 
Many  of  them  were  men  of  natural  and  ac- 
quired ability  ;  some  of  these  writers  could  hold 
me  close  to  Mormonism  on  some  points.  But 
at  this  time  I  was  much  at  their  mercy,  for  I 
was  young-  in  relig-ion  and  Bible  study.  O. 
Pratt  was  my  choice  author.  I  could  and  did 
learn  much  from  his  published  works.  His  in- 
g-enious  application  of  scripture,  by  which  he 
soug-ht  to  defend  Joseph  Smith  as  a  latter-day 
prophet,  the  coming-  forth  of  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon, and  the  latter-day  work  in  g-eneral,  proves 
him  to  be  a  very  close  student  both  of  the  Bible 
and  the  Mormon  system  of  Smith.  O.  Pratt 's 
works  were  well  calculated  to  lead  less  informed 
minds  into  the  church,  and  in  many  respects 
hold  them  when  he  had  them  there.  Had  it 
not  been  for  his  writing's,  Mormonism  would 
have  had  but  little  effect  upon  my  mind  ;  for 
practically  all  along-  it  had  proven  a  failure. 


Observation  in  England.  59 

Had  Mormonism  been  suspended  on  the  Bible 
alone  as  sole  proof  of  its  claims,  with  such  men 
as  the  Pratts  to  defend  it,  the  system  would  be 
much  more  difficult  to  encounter  than  as  it  is. 
But  Mormonism,  professing",  as  it  does,  so  many 
thing's  which  can  be  proven  or  disproven  by  the 
five  senses,  and  which  they  are  totally  at  a  loss 
to  prove,  destroys  their  claims  and  renders  their 
system  of  religion  indefensible.  And  while  O. 
Pratt  is  a  strong-  defender  of  the  Mormon  re- 
ligion from  a  Bible  standpoint,  he  is  as  weak  as 
the  weakest  in  defending-  the  actual  divine 
power  of  God  in  the  church,  or  system,  as  such. 
The  divine  power  of  God  not  being*  in  the 
church,  with  all  their  gifted  minds  can  do,  they 
cannot  sustain  the  claims  of  the  church  with- 
out it :  for  the  church  rests  on  the  divine  mirac- 
ulous power  of  God  in  it  (and  which  can  be  dem- 
onstrated for  or  ag-ainst),  and  not  so  much  on 
the  Bible.  If  they  as  a  people  and  religion  do 
in  fact  possess  the  divine  power  of  God  to  the 
extent  of  their  claims,  it  would  not  be  difficult 
for  them  to  prove  it  to  the  world  beyond  all 
doubt.  But  the  fact  that  they  do  not  prove 
such  is  proof  ag^ainst  them,  and  shows  to  a 


60        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

demonstration  that  their  claims  are  false.  They 
are  able,  and  do  furnish  the  human  part — the 
ceremonial,  the  formal,  the  ordinances,  the  or- 
dinations, the  officers  and  their  office  ;  they 
have  a  superabundance  of  all  this.  Yes,  they 
can  do  all  this  from  a  natural  or  human  stand- 
point ;  but  they  cannot  furnish  the  Holy  Ghost 
—the  Spirit  of  God.  No ;  God  himself  must 
do  that.  Their  attempt  to  imitate  the  miracu- 
lous power  of  God  in  the  gift  of  tongues  is  but 
something-  any  one  sufficiently  deceptive  and 
foolish  could  imitate ;  and  all  the  Mormons  that 
ever  were  or  will  be  could  never  detect  it.  But 
;fche  fact  that  the  Spirit  and  power  of  God  is 
not  among  them,  they  are  unable  to  manifest 
to  the  world  what  they  claim.  Hence,  the 
world  in  common  reject  them  for  want  of  the 
proof  of  their  claims  ;  and  the  way  the  facts 
.stand,  neither  O.  Pratt,  nor  any  nor  all  their 
best  trained  minds,  can  demonstrate  that  Mor- 
monism is  of  God.  No;  "by  their  fruits  ye 
shall  know  them."  It  was  nowhere  said  of  the 
Mormons  in  England,  "  The  dead  are  raised,  the 
deaf  hear,  the  blind  see,  the  lame  walk,  the 
lepers  are  cleansed,  devils  are  cast  out,  and  the 


Observation  in  England.  61 

poor  have  the  gospel  preached  to  them."  No; 
the  Mormons  do  not  preach  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ  ;  they  preach  the  latter-day  g'ospel  of 
Joseph  Smith — if  gospel,  or  good  news,  it  may 
be  called.  It  surely  does  not  piove  glad  tidings 
to  many. 

The  secret  of  Mormon  success  in  strange  lo- 
calities as  preachers  was  in  confining  their 
preaching  to  what  they  call  the  first  principles 
of  the  gospel,  and  which  they  quote  exclusively 
from  the  Bible,  seldom  or  never  using  or  refer- 
ring to  the  Book  of  Mormon.  In  this  they 
adapt  themselves  to  the  minds  and  prejudices 
of  their  hearers.  But  any  one  acquainted  with 
Smith  and  the  origin  of  Mormonism,  knows 
that  those  first  principles,  so-called,  and  taken 
exclusively  from  the  Bible,  were  but  the  means 
used  by  Smith  to  convert  the  people  to  himself 
and  his  system  of  religion.  They  first  tried  to 
make  their  converts  by  the  use  of  the  Book  of 
Mormon,  but  the  people  and  the  age  would  not 
admit  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  taking  the  place 
of  the  Bible.  The  Book  of  Mormon  would  not 
work,  and  they  soon  had  to  lay  it  aside.  True, 
though,  on  the  first  principles  of  the  g'ospel 


62        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

the  Book  of  Mormon  is  but  Smith's  defined 
views  of  the  Bible  on  this  point.  But  the  first 
Mormon  evangelists  sent  out  by  Smith  were  re- 
stricted to  preach  but  the  first  principles  of  the 
gospel — faith  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Son  of 
God,  repentance,  baptism  by  immersion,  and 
the  laying  on  of  hands  for  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  By  confining  their  preaching  to  the 
Bible  and  those  first  principles  as  therein  re- 
corded, they  were  wonderfully  successful  in 
their  preaching  missions,  both  in  America  and 
o*ther  countries.  Finding  that  the  Bible  was 
their  best  hold  on  the  people,  the  Book  of  Mormon 
has  almost  gone  into  disuse.  It  is  by  dwelling 
on  those  first  items  of  the  Christian  religion  that 
Mormon  success  is  attributable,  and  which  the 
writer  was  not  able  to  resist.  This  is  the 
"stool-pigeon  "  by  which  many  are  enticed  into 
the  Mormon  church,  and  with  which  no  one  can 
become  acquainted  until  he  has  entered.  Mor- 
monism is  a  secret  order,  and  very  much  so  in 
its  ultimate,  and  can  only  be  learned  and  known 
inside  of  its  order.  It  is  a  religious  order  of  de- 
grees of  which  those  first  principles  referred  to 
above  are  the  first  steps.  The  preachers  justify 


Observation  in  England.  63 

themselves  in  catching"  people  with  guile ;  they 
would  say  or  not  say,  do  or  not  do  almost  any- 
thing* in  order  to  succeed  or  g-ain  their  end.  I 
g-ive  a  case,  which  was  told  to  me  by  the  person 
himself,  how  he  was  sought  to  be  drawn  into 
the  church. 

An  elder  in  a  strang-e  locality,  who  was 
preaching-,  confined  his  discourse  to  those  first 
principles.  At  the  close  of  his  sermon  he  gfave 
an  opportunity  to  any  one  who  wished  to  be 
baptized.  The  person  referred  to  responded, 
offering-  himself  for  baptism.  He  was  taken 
"the  same  hour  of  the  nig-ht"  and  was  bap- 
tized. This  Mormon  preacher  had  not  repre- 
sented himself  as  a  Mormon  preacher  ;  had  not 
referred  to  Mormonism  in  any  way  to  indicate 
he  was  a  Mormon  preacher.  The  thoug-ht  of 
church  or  sect  had  not  entered  into*the  candi- 
date's mind ;  he  simply  wished  Christian  bap- 
tism, as  such  and  for  such.  But,  nevertheless, 
he  was  baptized  by  a  Mormon  preacher,  and  as 
a  Mormon  priest  or  elder  he  administered  bap- 
tism by  the  Mormon  authority  vested  in  him. 
But  the  candidate  felt  all  rig-ht  until  one  of  his 
neig-hbors  undertook  to  congratulate  him  as  a 


64        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

Mormon,  and  when  asked  what  he  meant  by 
addressing*  him  as  a  Mormon,  ' k  Why, "  said  the 
neighbor,  "the  preacher  who  baptized  you  was  a 
Mormon  preacher. ' '  *  'Why, ' '  said  the  baptized 
person,  '  'I  did  not  know  that. ' '  Said  he,  '  'I  will 
know  more  about  that,"  and  at  once  started  to 
find  the  preacher.  He  soon  found  him,  for  he 
was  still  in  the  neighborhood  ;  and  when  he 
found  him,  he  said  to  him,  "lam  informed  you 
are  a  Mormon  preacher."  He  acknowledged  he 
was,  saying,  "  What  about  it  ?"  "Why,  "said 
the  person  baptized,  "I  did  not  know  that  when 
you  baptized  me."  "Well,"  said  the  preacher, 
whal  of  it?  Your  baptism  is  all  right,"  and 
turned  away  with  a  grin  and  a  jest.  But  he 
said  at  the  time  he  related  this  incident  to  me, 
he  was  not  then  a  member  of  the  Mormon 
church. 

The  above  simply  shows  the  result  of  the 
Mormon  preacher  in  new  localities  confining 
their  preaching  to  what  they  call  the  first  prin- 
ciples of  the  church,  and  withholding  the  real 
Mormon  part  of  the  church.  Such  men  and  such 
means  are  strictly  misleading.  False  men  make 
false  systems,  and  never  stop  at  false  means  by 


Observation  in  England.  65 

which  to  support  them.  This  trait  of  charac- 
ter is  pre-eminently  manifest  in  the  early  work- 
ings of  Joseph  Smith  in  founding"  his  religious 
system. 

Mankind  commit  many  grievous  errors  and 
make  many  irrecoverable  mistakes  for  want  of 
proper  light.  Saul  of  Tarsus,  in  his  ignorance 
of  the  nature  of  the  Christian  religion,  could 
be  an  inveterate  persecutor ;  yet,  when  he  heard 
the  voice  and  the  words,  "  I  am  Jesus,  whom 
thou  persecutest, "  could  say,  in  humble  obe- 
dience, "Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?" 
How  necessary  and  true  the  adage  and  admoni- 
tion, "Be  sure  you  are  right,  then  go  ahead." 
So  I  would  say  in  religion,  and  especially  to  all 
sincere  Mormons,  "Be  sure  you  are  right."  It 
is  truly  the  hope  of  the  writer  that  thousands 
of  sincere  Mormons  may  read  and  ponder  well 
this  book,  and  with  the  assisting  grace  of  God, 
may  be  led  to  clearer  light  on  the  will  and 
word  of  God,  and  have  more  correct  views  and 
clearer  conceptions  of  the  errors  of  Mormonism. 

In  the  fall  of  1853,  I  arranged  my  business 
and  began  preparations  to  emigrate  to  Salt 
Lake.  I  thought,  there  I  shall  be  brought  in 
5 


66        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

direct  contact  with  the  heads  of  the  church, 
and  witness  more  of  divine  manifestation  of 
God  among"  them,  if  divine  power,  in  any  sense, 
was  to  be  found  among  them. 

By  this  time  father  and  a  number  of  the  fam- 
ily had  united  with  the  church,  and  had  be- 
come more  fully  confirmed  in  its  claims  than 
myself.  A  young*  man  also  having1  joined  the 
church,  who  had  been  my  most  intimate  youth- 
ful associate  for  many  years,  decided  to  gfo  along1 
with  us  to  Salt  Lake,  to  prove  the  realities  of 
the  latter-day  Zion.  My  wife  was  by  no  means 
anxious  to  g-o  to  the  Mormon  polygfamic  head- 
quarters. She  took  no  stock  in  the  plural  wife 
part  of  the  system.  She  was  perfectly  willing- 
to  go  to  America  for  the  sake  of  America,  but 
could  not  look  upon  the  church  with  any  degree 
of  confidence ;  but  a  brother  and  a  sister  of  the 
same  branch  with  us,  and  very  intimate,  enjoy- 
able associates,  had  agreed  to  g*o  with  us  ;  and 
this  sister's  g'oing'  along1  was  encouragement 
to  my  wife.  Company  in  dang-er  or  in  doubt- 
ful undertaking's  is  always  desirable  and  en- 
courag-ing-,  and  this,  at  the  time,  surely  worked 
well  in  my  wife's  case.  We  were  now  a  group 


Observation  in  England.  67 

of  five,  which  was  inspiring1  to  one  another. 
My  wife  had  joined  the  church,  but  like  my- 
self and  the  two  (as  Bunyan  would  have  it  in 
one  of  his  characters),  "Little  Faith"  would 
not  be  a  misnomer  for  her. 

I  had  promised  and  predicted  to  my  wife  that 
we  would  go  to  America  and  would  become 
well-to-do ;  and  though,  dear,  faithful  wife  and 
mother,  she  passed  away  some  twenty-five 
years  agr>,  she  lived  to  see  the  fulfillment  of 
my  prediction.  Yes,  after  we  returned  to 
Kansas  from  Utah,  we  lived  and  labored  to- 
gether, until  before  her  death  she  complimented 
me  on  the  fulfillment  of  my  prediction.  Yet  it 
did  not  take  place  in  the  Mormon  Zion,  as  our 
future  history  will  show  ;  but  with  ten  years' 
labor  and  toil  in  Kansas  we  brought  it  to  pass. 

In  the  fall  of  1853,  the  church  acknowledged 
that  polygamy  was  practiced  among1  them  as  a 
people  in  Utah.  Many  of  the  missionaries 
from  Salt  Lake  had,  when  pressed  closely,  de- 
nied it  up  to  this  time.  But  that  is  nothing"  for 
a  full-grown  Mormon  to  do — to  misrepresent 
thing's  for  the  advancement  of  the  church.  But 
now  they  acknowledged  that  polygamy  was 


68        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

practiced  by  them,  and  undertook  to  defend  it 
from  the  Bible.  But  just  what  place  polygamy 
occupies  as  a  part  of  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ  I  have  always  failed  to  see.  But  this  I 
shall  consider  later. 

O.  Pratt  at  this  time  undertook  to  defend  the 
plural  wife  doctrine,  under  the  title  of  Celes- 
tial Marriage.  But  there  was  nothing  celes- 
tial that  I  ever  saw  in  its  working  among  many 
families  while  I  was  with  them  in  Utah.  The 
reverse  was  the  fact,  and  a  name  far  more  befit- 
ting its  practice  would  be  Satanic  Marriage. 
Pratt 's  defense  or  proofs  were  quotations  from 
the  Old  Testament ;  and  I  would  suggest  to 
O.  Pratt,  and  any  one  else  it  may  concern,  that 
if  polygamy,  or  plurality  of  wives,  means  ce- 
lestial marriage,  to  leave  celestial  things  for 
a  celestial  age  and  place,  knowing  from  ob- 
servation in  Utah  that  it  does  not  work  well  in 
this  terrestrial,  fallen  state,  and  as  Pratt  should 
know  by  experience  at  Nauvoo.  But  I  leave 
this  subject  for  further  investigation  when  in 
Salt  Lake. 

I  had  now  given  up  my  situation,  had  my 
funds  in  proper  shape,  and  was  well  satisfied 


Observation  in  England.  69 

with  the  American  part  of  my  conclusions.  I 
had  two  objects  before  me  :  First,  I  shall  get 
to  the  land  and  country  of  my  choice ;  second, 
I  shall  be  able  to  prove  to  myself  the  wonder- 
ful claims  and  pretensions  of  the  Mormon 
church,  of  which  I  was  then  in  so  much  doubt. 
A  few  days  before  we  left  our  native  local- 
ity, our  second  child  was  taken  from  us  by 
death,  and  was  likely  to  have  to  be  buried  in 
the  night,  on  account  of  its  not  having  been 
baptized.  According  to  the  law  or  belief  of 
the  national  church,  it  was  not  counted  a  Chris- 
tian on  account  of  its  not  having  been  baptized, 
and  it  was  suggested  by  some  of  the  busy 
neighbors,  who  had  evidently  reported  it  to  the 
officials  of  the  church,  that  it  would  have  to  be 
buried  in  the  night  because  it  was  not  a  Chris- 
tian. The  little  innocent,  but  six  months  old, 
not  having  been  baptized  for  parental  scruples, 
was  not  by  the  English  church  counted  a  Chris- 
tian, and  must  needs  be  buried  in  the  night. 
Its  mother  at  this  thought  was  distressed  and 
in  grief.  She  felt  she  could  not  bear  the 
thought  of  her  babe  being  dishonored  and 
buried  in  the  night.  I  now  made  the  case  a 


70        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

matter  of  thought.  I  reasoned  :  I  am  a  Chris- 
tian, and  it  is  my  right  and  duty  to  officiate  in 
any  capacity  relating*  to  the  church  of  God.  I 
did  not  in  any  sense  entertain  a  belief  in  infant 
baptism ;  but  to  relieve  the  mother's  distress 
for  her  dying*  babe,  and  do  no  violence  to  my 
own  honest  convictions,  I  proposed  to  sprinkle 
the  child  the  day  before  it  died.  This  I  did 
unceremoniously,  and  told  my  wife  we  would 
report  the  child  sprinkled  by  a  man  of  God,  and 
felt  sure  that  all  would  be  rig-lit  with  the  sex- 
ton and  the  parson.  The  next  day  the  little 
innocent  died,  and  when  asked  by  the  sexton  if 
the  child  had  been  baptized,  I  said  to  him  it  had 
been  sprinkled.  He  answered,  that  was  all 
rig-lit,  and  on  this  our  little  daug-hter  was  placed 
away  in  the  English  church-yard,  with  all  the 
ceremonial  honors  of  a  Christian  ;  and  I  need 
not  say  that  a  fond  mother's  heart  was  in  part 
consoled,  and  a  father's  prejudice  at  such  a  na- 
tional church  law  mollified. 

We  were  now  about  ready  to  start  for  the 
Latter-day  Saint's  Zion,  with  three  of  our  most 
intimate  friends,  who  were  willing-  to  take  like 
chances  with  us. 


Observation  in  England.  71 

The  church  had  at  this  time  connected  with 
it  what  was  called  the  Emigrating*  Company, 
and  we  had  all  agreed  to  travel  by  means  of 
this  company.  I  chose  for  myself  and  family 
to  g-o  by  means  of  what  was  called  the  Inde- 
pendent Thirteen-pound  Company,  (they  had  in 
it  a  ten-pound  company,  three  pounds  to  be  paid 
the  company  in  Salt  Lake.  But  I  took  passag-e 
in  the  thirteen-pound.)  The  company  was  to 
furnish  everything1  needed  on  the  journey  from 
Liverpool  to  Salt  Lake  City,  and  the  overland 
outfit  was  to  be  refunded  per  head  pro  rata  at 
the  end  of  the  journey.  But  the  latter  clause 
of  the  contract,  as  will  be  seen,  fell  through, 
and  we  never  talked  very  loud  about  it. 

Being-  now  about  ready  to  start,  many  of  the 
brethren  and  sisters  came  to  us,  and  we  could 
see  from  the  nature  of  their  requests,  that  they 
entertained  doubts  with  regard  to  the  claims 
and  accounts  we  had  received  of  the  missionaries 
from  Salt  Lake.  They  manifested  their  doubts 
by  requesting-  us,  when  we  gx>t  to  Salt  Lake, 
to  be  sure  and  write  them  the  facts  as  we  found 
them.  Some  of  the  elders  of  the  branch  church 
showed  doubt  by  their  urg-ent  requests  to  have 


72        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

us,  after  we  had  been  in  Utah  a  sufficient  time 
to  learn  the  real  state  of  things,  to  write  them 
a  faithful  account  of  thing's  as  we  found  them. 
I  promised  all  such  that  I  would  faithfully  do 
so.  I  may  say  here  that  I  did  so,  and  that  was 
the  end  of  Mormonism  in  that  locality.  My 
father,  after  receiving  and  reading  two  of  my 
lengthy  letters  to  the  church  at  that  place, 
wrote  to  one  of  the  elders  about  the  interest  of 
the  church  in  that  locality  and  the  effect  of  my 
letters.  The  elder  replied,  saying  that  the 
church  and  Mormon  influence  were  gone ;  and  re- 
ferring to  my  letters,  he  said  both  saint  and 
sinner  believed  them,  and  it  was  no  use  to  try 
to  revive  the  church  at  that  place. 

I  had  forwarded  our  baggage  to  Liverpool, 
and  now  we  were  taking  our  last  look  at  the 
places  and  objects  we  never  expected  to  see  or 
visit  any  more.  Among  our  last  visits  were 
those  to  the  graves  of  our  dear  departed  ones. 

It  was  on  a  beautiful  Sunday  evening  ;  my 
wife  had  walked  some  distance  to  visit  and  take 
her  last  look  at  her  mother's  grave.  I  had 
gone  to  meet  her  on  her  return.  I  knew  her 
heart  would  be  sad.  She  was  an  only  daugh- 


Observation  in  England.  73 

ter.  A  mother's  love  and  care  had  been  mani- 
fest toward  her  daughter  up  to  the  time  of  her 
death.  No  mother  and  daughter  could  be 
more  affectionate  toward  each  other  than  were 
they.  She  had  died  and  had  been  laid  away  in 
the  grave  some  two  years  before,  (since  our  mar- 
riage.) No  daughter  had  ever  been  watched 
over  by  a  mother  with  more  earnest  care  and 
interest.  I  had  often  witnessed  marks  of  the 
love  and  affection  she  cherished  for  her  depart- 
ed mother.  I  had  gone  to  meet  her  on  her  re- 
turn from  the  grave.  I  saw  her  at  a  distance ; 
she  was  walking  slowly,  with  downcast  head. 
I  knew  her  heart  was  truly  sad.  Under  favor- 
able circumstances  she  was  naturally  cheerful ; 
but  there  was  nothing  cheerful  in  her  coun- 
tenance now.  She  looked  solemn  and  sad.  She 
had  seen  a  loving  mother's  grave  for  the  last 
time,  to  which  she  had  bidden  a  final  farewell. 
Yes,  she  had  left  a  silent,  sleeping  loved  one, 
expecting  to  start  for  America  next  morning, 
never  to  return.  When  I  met  her  she  was  in 
tears,  unable  to  speak.  She  felt  she  had  seen 
for  the  last  time  the  place  where  a  dear  mother 
was  to  repose,  silent  in  death,  until  the  resur- 


74        Morrnonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

rection  morn.  I  took  her  hand,  endeavoring  to 
console  her.  We  stood,  we  wept,  feeling-  lone- 
some, as  children  bereft  of  their  parents.  We 
now  realized  fully  the  trial  of  leaving-  our  na- 
tive land,  with  all  its  endearing-  scenes  and 
happy  associations.  Our  married  life — some 
three  years — had  been  all  we  could  wish ;  but 
now  we  both  felt  we  were  entering-  on  a  new 
life,  and  knew  not 'our  future.  We  were  leav- 
ing- our  native  land,  which  we  had  enjoyed  so 
much,  with  all  its  happy  associations  ;  and  here 
at  this  time  we  were  fully  realizing-  the  fact. 
We  stood  tog-ether  silent  -in  this  place,  appar- 
ently unable  to  speak,  but  which  was  rendered 
to  us  sacred.  I  felt  then,  and  ever  since  when 
reflecting-  and  meditating-  upon  the  emotions  of 
two  souls  in  one,  that  that  time  and  place  was 
the  most  sacred  part  and  place  of  my  mortal 
existence.  Often,  when  meditating-  on  that 
place  and  our  emotions,  by  mental  transfer  I 
stand  there,  call  up  the  circumstances  and  live 
them  over  ag-ain.  Yes,  I  cherish  the  solemn 
thoug-ht,  and  with  a  sigfh,  feel  the  place  is  yet 
sacred. 

Next  morning-  we  were   to  start  to  the  sta- 


Observation  in  England.  75 

tion  and  by  railroad  leave  our  native  home.  We 
have  to  bid  our  father,  mother,  and  younger 
brothers  and  sisters  good-by.  My  father  had 
cherished  great  hopes  in  my  going  as  the  pio- 
neer of  the  family  to  America,  and  especially  as 
pioneer  to  the  latter-day  Zion.  He  had  more 
faith  in  Mormonism  than  myself.  He  enter- 
tained great  things  about  the  land  of  the 
Saints.  The  morning  we  left  and  bade  them 
good-by,  my  poor  old  father  broke  down  on 
parting  with  us  for  so  long  and  distant  a  journey. 
He  was  very  much  attached  to  his  daughter- 
in-law.  But  little  did  I  think  at  that  time  that 
we  should  never  meet  or  see  him  again  on  earth. 
I  wrote  him  some  lengthy  letters  from  Salt 
Lake,  giving  him  the  facts  as  I  found  them ; 
but  his  expectations  were  so  wrought  up  in  be- 
half of  the  Mormon  system  as  the  church  of 
God,  he  was  slow  to  believe  my  statements. 
He  thought,  it  may  be,*  that  Mormonism  might 
have  proven  too  pure  a  system  of  religion  for 
me,  or,  my  Christian  fidelity  had  given  way.  I 
learned  tHis  from  the  family.  Two  years  later 
he  started  with  the  family  to  meet  me  in  Kan- 
sas. I  had  left  Utah  at  that  time.  He  had 


76        Momnonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

said  he  would  go  forward  to  Salt  Lake  and  see 
for  himself ;  but  he  was  taken  sick  on  board  of 
ship,  died,  and  was  buried  in  the  ocean,  the 
rest  of  the  family  coming-  forward  at  the  time, 
and  we  met  in  Kansas. 

But  we  are  now  on  our  way ;  we  have  left  all 
our  local  associations  in  the  distance  behind, 
and  we  must  needs  call  and  stop  off  at  Leeds 
to  form  connection  with  our  traveling  compan- 
ions. We  waited  here  a  few  days  for  our 
friends  to  g-et  ready. 

While  remaining1  at  Leeds,  we  witnessed  a 
peculiar  engagement  between  a  brother  and 
sister  in  the  church.  This  but  serves  to  show 
the  tendency  and  nature  of  the  Mormon  system. 
The  sister  was  the  wife  of  an  aged  retired, 
wealthy  merchant.  She  was  not  more  than 
thirty  years  of  ag-e,  was  g-ood-looking  both  in 
features  and  form.  She  was  smart  and  entic- 
ing-. She  was  evidently  dissatisfied  with  her 
condition  as  the  wife  of  an  aged  husband.  She 
was  a  member  at  the  time  of  the  Leeds  Mormon 
church,  and  she  had  become  fully  persuaded 
that  it  was  perfectly  proper  for  her  to  leave 
her  husband  and  gather  to  Zion,  inasmuch  as 


Observation  in  England.  77 

he  was  unwilling-  to  go.  She  acknowledged 
her  husband  was  truly  kind  to  her,  and  as  to 
the  comforts  of  life,  she  had  all  that  heart  could 
desire.  But  she  was  willing  to,  and  did,  en- 
gage with  a  young  brother  to  meet  him  at  Liv- 
erpool just  before  his  ship  should  sail,  and 
when  in  America,  or  Zion,  become  his  wife. 
Mormonism  as  a  system  of  religion  prepares  its 
converts  for  such  as  this.  This  sister  was  ad- 
monished that  such  was  perfectly  right.  Such 
are  the  evil  products  of  an  evil  religion.  Yes, 
"  Evil  communications  corrupt  good  manners." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

FROM  LIVERPOOL  TO  NEW  ORLEANS  ON  BOARD 
OF    SHIP. 

WE  are  now  in  Liverpool.  The  ship  Gol- 
conda,  a  wooden  sail  vessel,  is  chartered 
by  the  emigrating  company  to  sail  for  New 
Orleans.  The  passengers,  some  four  hundred, 
are  all  Mormons.  Here  the  passengers  are 
gathering-  from  different  parts  of  England  and 
Wales.  Here  I  expected  and  did  meet  with 
several  of  the  leading  men  of  the  church,  hop- 
ing by  such  my  faith  in  the  claims  of  the  church 
would  be  strengthened.  I  could  but  think  the 
nearer  I  reach  the  head  of  the  fountain,  the 
purer  I  shall  find  the  water.  But  in  this  I 
still  find  myself  doomed  to  disappointment. 
Here  at  Liverpool  I  met  Samuel  Richards,  one 
of  the  twelve  apostles  of  the  Mormon  church. 
He  appeared  to  have  the  management  of  the 
emigration  interest  for  the  church.  At  his 
office  we  had  to  have  all  necessary  papers  made 
out  and  contracts  signed.  I  had  now  paid  up 
(78) 


From  Liverpool  to  Ne^v  Orleans.          79 

in  full  for  myself  and  family  for  the  whole  jour- 
ney, and  a  small  amount  extra  for  cabin  pass- 
age on  board  of  ship  to  New  Orleans.  My 
part  pro  rata  of  the  plain's  outfit  was  to  be  re- 
funded at  Salt  Lake  City.  We  had  on  board  of 
ship  much  bustle  and  excitement ;  all  busy 
securing  their  berths  and  making*  desirable 
arrangements  for  a  six  weeks'  voyage.  Every- 
thing was  strange  ;  every  one  appeared  cheerful 
and  happy,  and  surely  felt  they  were  on  their 
way  to  a  celestial  Zion.  I  found  here  was  no 
place  to  intimate  doubts  in  relation  to  claims  of 
the  church.  Every  one  appeared  to  know 
everything  and  all  about  the  truth  of  the  latter- 
day  work.  I  was  almost  persuaded  at  times  to 
think  surely  it  must  be  all  right,  for  on  board 
of  ship  at  this  time  it  appeared  as  though  we 
were  going  to  Zion  (Elijah-like)  in  a  whirlwind. 
Por  my  own  part  I  knew  we  were  on  our  way 
to  America,  and  that  justified  my  being  there. 
There  is  something  truly  exhilarating  about  an 
excitement  and  bustle,  such  as  we  surely  had  at 
that  time,  and  so  far  I  was  then  enjoying  Mor- 
mon emigrating  association,  whether  "the  gold 
in  the  bag  was  to  be  found  at  the  end  of  the 


80        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

rainbow"  or  not.  But  we  are  about  to  receive 
some  special  counsel  and  admonition  from  the" 
heads  and  managers  of  the  emigrating"  company 
—Samuel  Richards  and  his  coadjutors.  They 
are  about  to  advise  us  for  our  future  good. 
They  now  counsel  and  admonish  us  to  donate 
to  the  emigrating*  company  the  whole  amount 
of  passage  money  paid  to  them  for  the  whole 
journey,  the  company  to  take  us  just  the  same, 
but  wished  us  to  sign  obligations  to  refund  the 
full  amount  in  Salt  Lake.  These  head  men 
told  us  that  we  could  soon  make  the  amount 
over  a  living"  on  our  arrival  at  Zion,  and  that 
God  would  more  abundantly  bless  us  when  we 
got  there.  About  this  time  I  began  to  be  sorry 
for  the  church  that  such  counselors  represented. 
But  I  was  much  more  sorry  for  myself  and 
family  that  we  had  ever  known  or  been  con- 
nected with  such  a  church.  I  had  now  been 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  head  men  at 
English  headquarters.  I  could  see  at  once  now 
there  was  to  be  a  square  issue  with  myself  and 
the  higher  priesthood.  They  had  given  coun- 
sel and  advice  ;  they  expected  it  to  be  honored 
and  respected.  To  observe  it  was  proof  of  our 


From  Liverpool  to  New  Orleans.          81 

obedience  and  confidence  in  church  priesthood 
and  authority.  It  was  a  strong  test  of  what 
we  were  and  how  we  looked  and  felt  toward 
the  heads  of  the  institution.  To  refuse  or  dis- 
regard their  counsel  was  equal  almost  to  re- 
nouncing* the  church  and  its  leaders.  I  felt  at 
this  time  a  desire  to  have  my  funds  out  of  the 
concern,  and  that  I  was  going*  to  America  on 
my  own  responsibility  for  the  sake  of  America 
only.  Receiving-  this  counsel  from  one  of  -  the 
apostles  of  the  church  and  others  high  in  the 
church,  relieved  me  of  the  encouragement  and 
hope,  inspired  just  before,  by  the  ardor  and  en- 
thusiasm of  the  masses  on  board  of  the  ship.  I 
felt  sure  now  I  could  "see  the  cloven  foot" 
manifested  by  those  high  in  authority.  I  began 
now  to  fear  the  nearer  the  head  the  more  corrup- 
tion. It  was  plain  to  me  now  that  we  were  not 
counseled  and  advised  for  our  own  good,  and  that 
our  advisers  were  not  sincere.  That  scheme 
was  a  deception  sought  to  be  practiced  on  the 
ignorant  and  simple-minded  gathered  there  at 
their  instigation  at  the  time.  I  truly  wished 
my  funds  were  in  my  own  pocket,  and  myself, 

wife  and  friends  were  out  of  the  church.     But 
6 


82        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

no,  it  was  now  too  late  for  that.  Had  such  a 
circumstance  as  this  occurred  a  month  or  two 
before  this  time,  I  felt  sure  it  would  have  pre- 
vented our  journey  to  the  Mormon  Zion  in  the 
mountains.  But  what  had  to  be  was  bound  to 
be ;  and  I  suppose  my  going-  to  Salt  Lake  was 
one  cf  the  thing's  of  fate,  or  Providence,  or  both. 
But  a  number  of  the  brethren  complied  with 
the  admonition  and  signed  obligations  to  refund 
the  amount  as  suggested  ;  and  well  do  I  re- 
member how,  in  Salt  Lake,  they  regretted  their 
act.  Some  of  them  going-  to  Brig-ham  per- 
sonally stating-  their  poverty  and  inability  to 
pay  and  were  released.  But  being-  weak  in  the 
faith,  my  mind  was  soon  made  up  to  refuse. 
To  me  at  a  g-lance  it  looked  all  one-sided.  I 
could  see  no  business  principle  in  it.  At  the 
time  I  had  my  serious  doubts  about  making- 
money  fast  in  Zion.  These  men  knew  full  well 
when  they  were  g-iving-  such  advice  (as  I  after- 
ward learned)  that  it  was  difficult  for  ordinary, 
industrious  working-  men  to  support  themselves 
and  families.  Yes,  I  repeat ;  these  very  heads 
of  the  church  at  the  time  they  were  admonish- 
ing us  to  donate  and  re-obligate,  knew  that  it 


From  Liverpool  to  Ne^v  Orleans.          83 

was  hard  in  the  Salt  Lake  valleys  for  common 
working  men  to  make  half  a  good  living"  for 
themselves  and  families,  and  they  would  need 
but  one  wife  at  that.  Many  of  those  brethren 
who  yielded  to  the  counsel  were  from  the  large 
cities  and  were  unfit  for  the  hardships  conse- 
quent upon  frontier  life  in  America.  I  was 
finally  called  upon  and  asked  what  I  proposed 
to  do.  I  realized  I  was  in  close  quarters  now 
—face  to  face  with  so  many  of  the  heads  of  the 
church.  I  by  no  means  "felt  it  was  good  to  be 
there."  I  knew  to  refuse  wa.s  to  be  censured 
by  the  heads  of  the  church.  It  took  all  the 
sense,  nerve  and  manhood  I  could  command  to 
equal  the  occasion.  I  was  truly  now  in  the 
Mormon  mill  being  ground  unpleasantly  fine. 
I  was  taking  important  lessons  at  financial 
risks.  I  knew  they,  as  heads  of  the  church, 
the  mouth-piece  of  God,  taught  and  expected 
implicit  obedience,  and  to  refuse  would  prove 
my  lack  of  confidence  in  the  main-spring  of  the 
whole  system.  But  I  shook  my  head  and  an- 
swered no,  that  I  wished  to  decline  such  a  prop- 
osition. At  my  answer  Samuel  Richards  raised 
his  head  from  his  desk,  fastened  his  eyes  upon 


84        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

me,  and  with  a  piercing  look  took  my  dimen- 
sions. It  would  be  hard  for  me  ever  to  forget 
that  look.  I  felt  sure  I  knew  how  he  felt 
toward  me.  I  knew  also  he  saw  in  me  a 
peculiar,  significant  look,  for  at  the  same  time  I 
was  sizing  up  my  spiritual  adviser.  But  I 
knew  in  reason  while  his  eagle  eye  was  resting 
upon  me  he  was  surmising  (as  an  apostle  of  the 
Mormon  religion),  Who  are  you,  so  independent, 
so  distrustful,  so  disobedient,  that  would  dare 
in  the  presence  of  an  apostle  of  the  church  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  saints  to  refuse 
counsel  and  disobey  our  priestly  request?  I 
well  knew  as  an  exception  to  all  the  others  in 
my  answer,  I  was  in  the  mind  of  these  men  "a 
speckled  bird/'  I  knew  I  had  proven  to  them 
a  lack  of  confidence  in  the  Mormon  institution 
as  such.  This  was  to  me  a  great  trial  of  the 
kind,  but  it  gave  me  strength  in  that  direction. 
I  was  more  ready  and  better  prepared  for  an- 
other such  attack.  But  the  apostle  after 
his  penetrating  look  answered  not  a  word,  and 
I  found  it  to  myself  no  place  for  unnecessary 
lingerings. 

I  was  relieved  on  retiring,  having  no  shade  of 


From  Liverpool  to  Ne^v  Orleans.          85 

tendency  to  return.  This  in  return  gave  me  an 
irrecoverable  backset,  and  a  prejudice  against 
the  heads  of  the  church  that  was  never  after- 
wards forgott.en.  I  realized  now  I  was  in  the 
mill  of  the  Mormons  and  was  being  ground. 
Providence  or  fate  or  both  had  declared  it  so, 
and  while  it  proved  finally  for  the  best,  at  that 
time  it  looked  otherwise. 

Almost  from  the  first  I  had  felt  I  was  of  an- 
other spirit,  distinct  from  the  church.  Are 
there  not  "many  spirits  gone  out  into  the 
world,"  which  we  are  admonished  to  "try 
[prove]  whether  they  be  of  God?" 

I  withheld  my  feelings  and  the  contest  I  had 
with  the  heads  from  my  wife  and  friends.  I 
knew  the  facts  and  was  feeling  bad  on  account 
of  what  I  had  passed  through.  To  make  them 
known  to  my  friends  would  make  them  feel  un- 
happy, so  I  endeavored  to  bear  them  until  their 
effects  passed  off.  All  this  time  my  wife  and 
friends  were  enjoying  the  excitement  .and  en- 
thusiasm of  the  masses  on  board  of  ship,  while 
I  was  suffering  from  a  diminished  faith  in  Mor- 
monism.  I  need  not  say  here  that  I  never 
sought  a  renewed  interview  with  those  church 


•*          J/ormo*tsm  Ejcposed  and  Refuted. 

officials  at  Liverpool.  No ;  I  was  somewhat  anxi- 
for  the  ship  to  set  sail  and  bear  me  off  from 
their  influence,  and  though  for  the  present 
gioamy  and  sad.  yet  I  felt  as  I  have 
felt  through  life,  that  friends  can  seldom 
troubles  must  wear  off  or  fade  away 
by  the  pqpetual  stream  of  time-  The  true 
of  mm  unlit  inn  is  in  a  God,  who  ?VfH» 
the  end  front  the  beginning.  My  real 
life  m  manv  respects  will  only  be  known  to  my 
as  he  may  ponder  over  the  following 
and  then  the  half  will  not  be  told,  only 

it  relates  to  my  experience  and  observations 

•    .  _ 

have  left  enjoyable,  happy  HOUMU  They  have 
left  many  of  life's  real  comforts  that  will  never 
Many  of  these  people  had  spent 
of  their  lives  in  large  towns  and  f ac- 
They  were  not  fitted,  many  of  them. 
file  in  a  new  frontier  country  like 
part  of  America.  Their  Mormon 
had  beguiled  and  bewitched  them  (spi- 
into  the  web  tfcey  had  woven  for  them, 


From  Liverpool  §9  2 


OT  HMMl  t  \  AUXT 

:      -  -.  L  .  - 
ri    :   i    :Li:    -. 


"  "  -. 


:  :  i  -. 


L 


-          We 

:  T  r,i.:r 


•   "  r. 


fmD  TWW 

table  to  wfckfc  we  aH  draw  vp  to 

y .-.:.:    :        .-. 


TT     '-.:  .7      - 


88        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

government  for  the  people.  Otir  little  cabin  is 
now  being*  organized  into  a  church  ward,  No.  1. 
We  are  to  keep  up  our  regular  Mormon  church 
machinery.  Our  president  and  deacon  regu- 
larly elected,  everything  is  now  arranged  as  on 
land.  Bro.  John .  Saxey,  president ;  Bro.  Mul- 
len, deacon.  The  name  of  the  company  of 
saints  on  board  of  ship  is  styled,  The  Golconda 
Branch  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter- 
day  Saints.  Our  weekly  public  meetings  were 
to  be  on  Thursday  evenings.  The  time  came 
round  for  our  first  meeting,  and  here  we  are  in 
regular  church  order.  President  Saxey  opened 
by  prayer  and  admonition.  All  adults  were 
expected  to  take  part,  especially  the  brethren, 
who  were  all  ordained  to  the  priesthood.  I 
was  really  anxious  to  hear  the  testimonies  of 
these  strange  brethren.  Their  testimony,  as 
usual,  was  uniform  in  one  particular.  They 
all  knew  the  church  and  work  was  of  God,  and 
that  Joseph  Smith  was  a  true  prophet  of  God, 
and  that  Brighana  Young  was  a  true  prophet. 
They  all  claimed  that  God  had  made  these 
things  known  to  them,  intimating  by  some  mi- 
raculous means,  but  none  of  them  stating 


From  Liverpool  to  Ne^v  Orleans.          89 

just  how ;  but  they  claimed  to  know  it  for 
themselves  and  had  no  doubts  on  the  matter. 
There  was  nothing"  new  to  me  in  this.  It  was 
the  same  uniform  testimony  I  had  been  hearing- 
ever  since  I  had  first  heard  them.  W.  W.,  my 
intimate  friend  and  brother,  and  I  waited  un- 
til the  last.  I  had  determined  to  abide  by  my 
own  convictions.  I  knew  I  should  expose  my 
lack  of  confidence  in  my  remarks.  I  could  not 
say  I  knew  anything-  about  the  church,  only 
what  I  had  seen  and  heard  as  above,  and  it 
would  not  do  to  testify  to  any  of  that  at  this 
time  and  place. 

I  had  learned  by  this  time  a  little  of  Mor- 
mpnism,  and  I  proposed  to  be  cautious  and  slow. 
I  arose  and  stated  I  had  reasons  for  joining-  the 
church,  and  being  with  them  on  my  way  to 
Zion  ;  that  there  were  many  thing's  connected 
with  the  church  that  looked  to  me  reasonable 
and  scriptural ;  and  that  I  was  still  willing-  to 
g-o  forward  in  the  work  to  learn  and  know  more 
about  it.  But  as  to  knowing-,  actually  knowing- 
the  church  was  of  God,  and  that  Joseph  Smith 
was  the  true  prophet  of  God,  I  was  unable  to 
say  that  much  either  for  the  church  or  myself. 


90        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refitted. 

At  once  all  eyes  were  upon  me,  and  some  of 
the  brethren  were  actually  restless.  My  friend 
and  brother,  W.  W.,  followed  me  much  in  the 
same  line  of  thought.  We  both  fully  realized 
at  the  time  our  testimonies  were  not  taken  at 
par.  However  it  was  that  or  nothing,  for  such 
were  the  facts,  and  we  were  both  willing  to 
abide  by  them.  But  a  brother  Squires  (he 
h*ad  spoken  once)  was  anxious  to  do  or  have 
something  done.  He  was  a  man  of  some  ability 
as  a  public  speaker.  He  arose  a  second  time. 
No  doubt  he  undertook  to  manifest  to  us  the 
divine  power  in  the  church ;  and  I  can  but 
think  that  such  was  what  many  people  based 
their  knowledge  of  the  church  on.  Bro.  Squires 
had  said  but  little  at  this  time  about  the  divine 
manifestations  of  divine  power  in  behalf  of  the 
church,  before  he  broke  out  into  (what  he  would 
have  the  people  to  believe)  the  miraculous  gift 
of  tongues.  It  appeared  to  me  as  though  I 
could  see  through  the  whole  attempt  of  this 
would-be  smart  brother.  I  had  no  doubt  but 
he  intended  this  speaking  (in  what  he  wished 
to  be  considered  divine  manifestation  of  tongues) 
for  the  purpose  of  demonstrating  to  my  friend 


From  Liverpool  to  New  Orleans.          91 

and  myself  that  the  church  was  truly  of  God. 
His  whole  demeanor  proved  that  and  nothing- 
more. 

This  speaking-  in  unknown  tong-ues  has  been 
their  most  common  method  of  miraculous  mani- 
festation among-  them  from  the  beg-inning-  of 
the  church.  But  Bro.  Squires'  unknown 
tong-ues  proved  nothing-  to  my  friend  and  my- 
self. No ;  such  like  could  be  practiced  by  any 
one  who  would  allow  himself  to  be  suffici- 
ently deceptive  and  foolish.  It  is  something" 
that  neither  observer  nor  observed  can  prove, 
or  not  prove,  divine  or  otherwise.  I  felt  sure  I 
could  make  a  similar  tong-ue  if  I  could  afford  to 
be  sufficiently  desig-ning-  or  foolish. 

But  Bro.  Mullen,  the  deacon,  undertook  to 
g-ive  the  interpretation,  and  I  could  but  look 
upon  it  as  equally  designing-  and  foolish.  Bro. 
Squires  knew  not  what  he  said,  in  fact  he  said 
nothing-.  Bro.  Mullen  evidently  had  learned  to 
play  second  to  such.  He  knew  well  that  neither 
Bro.  Squires  nor  any  one  else  present  knew 
anything-  about  the  babble  of  the  pretended 
tong-ue,  and  Bro.  Mullen  knew  he  was  safe  in 
undertaking-  to  interpret 'by  just  saying-  any- 


92        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

thing  he  had  a  mind  to  wafe  the  meaning*  of  the 
pretended  tongue,  as  one  in  the  early  part  of 
the  church  once  said,  "Make  a  noise,  and  God 
will  make  a  language  or  tongue  out  of  it." 
Bro.  Mullen  rose  with  the  divine  gift  of  inter- 
pretation and  said  if  the  saints  as  God's  people 
on  ship  would  be  faithful,  we  should  have  a 
pleasant  passage  and  be  safely  landed  in  New 
Orleans. 

This  would-be  miraculous  manifestation 
proved  to  me  the  Mormon  method  and  its  re- 
sults on  credulous  people  on  the  gift  of  tongues. 
There  is  nothing  so  true  as  a  true  man  with  a 
true  religion,  and  there  is  nothing  so  false  as  a 
false  man  with  a  false  religion.  But  who  is 
able  to  demonstrate  both?  Divine  proof  of  a 
proposition  should  be  unquestionable  and  be- 
yond all  possible  doubt,  or  it  loses  its  object. 
Ward  number  one's  first  meeting  closed,  leav- 
ing miraculous  gift  of  tongues  very  much  in 
doubt  as  to  its  being  of  God,  and  leaving  two 
doubting  brothers  like  "doubting  Thomas." 

Our  captain,  church  captain,  was  a  returning 
missionary.  His  name  was  Curtis,  a  pleasant, 
smooth  fellow.  He  acted  as  though  the  pass 


From  Liverpool  to  Ne^v  Orleans.          93 

eng-ers  were  somewhat  indebted  to  him  for  his 
services.  He  would  modestly  approach  them 
asking-  presents  to  take  home  for  his  family  of 
two  wives,  which  he  was  free  to  acknowledge 
he  had.  He  was  rather  a  timid  Mormon,  look- 
ing' to  his  own  interests  and  comforts,  rather 
than  assisting-  the  people.  He  was  not  to  be 
found  when  most  needed  in  sickness,  and  in 
cholera,  etc. 

There  were  a  number  of  returning-  mission- 
aries ;  some  returning-  in  disgrace  for  disobedi- 
ence to  authority  and  immoral  conduct.  They 
had  been  called  home  for  trial  and  retribution, 
some  of  whom  were  of  higfh  standing-  and 
ability. 

There  were  many  young-  elders  on  board  of 
ship  who  were  for  the  first  time  g"oing-  out  to 
Salt  Lake.  Many  of  them  were  very  zealous 
and  enthusiastic  and  appeared  to  be  over-confi- 
dent that  the  church  was  the  divine  institution 
of  heaven.  These  zealous  young-  brethren 
afforded  me  a  favorable  opportunity  to  criticise 
what  to  them  was  clear  proof  of  their  claims  ; 
and  I  found  in  every  case — not  one  exception— 
that  it  was  like  Elder  Squires'  g-ift  of  unknown 


94        Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

tongues.  It  was  mole-hills  magnified  into 
mountains,  and  many  of  their  actual  proofs 
arose  from  the  use  of  unknown  tongues  among 
them.  I  noticed,  too,  that  a  critical  inquiry 
into  the  evidence  of  their  claims  took  the  wind 
out  of  all  their  sails  ;  and  their  sails  flopped, 
and  their  vessels  came  to  a  dead  stand.  I  am 
inclined  to  think  people  are  more  easily  de- 
ceived and  misled  on  religion  than  on  any  other 
subject. 

I  was  now  becoming  acquainted  with  many 
on  board  of  ship,  was  mixing  freely  with  them, 
asking  many  questions  in  relation  to  their  ex- 
perience in  the  church.  I  found  a  great  variety 
of  thought  on  many  subjects,  but  they  were 
uniform  in  claiming  a  knowledge  that  the 
church  in  the  divine  sense  was  of  God.  Some- 
times I  was  led  to  wonder  if  there  was  not  a 
peculiar,  distinct  spirit  about  Mormonism.  For 
so  it  appeared  and  has  always  so  appeared  to 
me.  "Many  spirits  have  gone  out  into  the 
world."  I  have  thought  may  not  this  be  a 
more  clear  rendering  of  that  passage  of  scrip- 
ture, "Many  spirits  [many  classes  of  spirits] 
have  gone  out  into  the  world."  The  Mormons, 


From  Liverpool  to  Neiv  Orleans.          95 

as  a  people  (similar  to  other  sects),  are  a  class 
of  spirits.  This  is  remarkably  so,  as  my  ex- 
perience and  observations  among-  them  as  a 
people  will  finally  show.  They  are  peculiarly 
and  similarly  actuated  or  acted  upon.  They 
are  one  of  the  class  of  spirits  "sent  into  the 
world,"  and  whom  the  apostle  admonishes  the 
true  Christians  to  "prove  whether  they  be  of 
God."  Reader,  look  them  up.  "Prove  them 
whether  they  be  of  God." 

I  was  now  noting-  the  effect  of  the  Mormon 
relig-ion  upon  its  members.  I  was  where  I 
could  witness  its  working's.  I  was  there  among- 
them  for  what  I  could  learn  respecting-  them. 
The  Mormons,  as  a  people  and  a  system,  are 
more  natural  than  spiritual.  I  speak  after  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  found  in  the  New  Testament. 

There  were  near  four  hundred  Mormons  in 
all,  on  board,  all  crowded  tog-ether.  They  had 
left  those  older  countries  with  their  civil  re- 
straints relating-  to  marriag-e.  The  members 
of  the  Mormon  church  were  entering-  on  what 
mig-ht  be  called  a  new  life  in  many  respects  ; 
but  especially  so,  as  it  related  to  marriag-e  and 
marrie'd  life.  The  church  had  acknowledged 


96        Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

at  this  time  that,  as  a  people,  they  taught  and 
practiced  polygamy,  and  that  one  man  could 
have  a  number  of  wives.  It  was  understood  by 
all  that  the  legal  married  relations  of  those 
foreign  countries  were  not  binding,  or  could  at 
will  be  set  aside  in  Utah ;  that  all  could  com- 
mence married  life  anew,  and  that  the  true  mar- 
ried relation  was  more  a  matter  of  affinity  than 
legal  bondage.  From  this  standpoint  (and  the 
existing  condition  of  so  many  crowded  together 
on  board  of  ship  on  their  way  to  this  new  order 
of  things  as  they  were  to  be  expected  in  2ion) 
I  was  watching  the  influence  and  effect  of  such 
a  religion  upon  its  followers.  Husbands  and 
wives,  whose  present  and  past  married  life  had 
not  been  all  that  could  be  desired,  with  the 
temptations  of  the  Mormon  polygamic  princi- 
ples in  their  mind,  and  brought  in  close  contact 
by  ship  life,  developed  some  new  and  strange 
conduct.  Such  loose  prospective  marriage  re- 
lations served  rather  to  alienate  than  incline 
them  together.  Mormon  teachings  on  the  mar- 
riage relation  has  a  natural  tendency  to  separate 
man  and  wife  and  destroy  that  sacred  temple 
called  home. 


From  Liverpool  to  New  Orleans.  ,      97 

I  now  on  board  of  ship  witnessed  its  work- 
ing's. Husbands  were  now  looking*  out  for  new 
objects  on  which  to  place  their  affections 
for  future  wives  when  they  should  arrive  at 
and  settle  down  in  the  mountain  home  of  the 
Saints,  where  it  was  understood  that  all 
old  marriage  ties  could  be  dissolved  and  set 
aside  at  will  and  new  marriage  engagements 
entered  into ;  and  many  of  these  husbands 
appeared  to  be  very  much  in  earnest  in  their 
undertaking*.  Some  of  the  wives,  too,  did  not 
purpose  those  opportunities  should  pass  by  un- 
improved, for  a  number  of  these  dissatisfied 
wives  were  also  actively  making*  use  of  their 
privileges,  looking"  out  for  new  objects  of  affec- 
tion that  their  better  judgment  and  fancy 
might  suggest  for  future  husbands,  and  who, 
they  mig-ht  think,  would  render  a  future  mar- 
ried life  more  happy  than  it  had  been  in  the 
past. 

We  had  a  number  of  preparations  of  this 
character  in  progress  on  board  of  ship,  which 
I  learned  after  our  arrival  in  Salt  Lake  were 
carried  into  effect.  In  our  little  cabin  we  could 
constantly  see  such  preparation  going  on 
7 


98      ,Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

right  by  our  side.  Bro.  Squires  and  his  wife 
were  both  engaged  in  active  preparation  of  this 
kind. 

A  young  woman,  I  will  not  say  lady,  was 
being  courted  for  the  future  wife,  and  a  young 
man  much  encouraged  for  a  future  husband : 
but  Providence  or  fate  or  both  frustrated  their 
expectations,  as  the  future  will  prove.  This 
family  had  been  prominent  in  the  church  and 
had  a  large  family  of  children  and  grand- 
children with  them  at  the  time.  The  old 
people  appeared  to  be  very  active  and  much  in 
earnest  in  the  matter.  They  were  in  the  adjoin- 
ing berth  to  us  and  we  became  well  acquainted 
with  them  and  the  manner  of  their  life,  and  I 
should  judge,  rather  than  live  such  a  life  as 
they  were  then  living,  it  might  be  well  for 
them  to  be  separated.  But  whether  such  peo- 
ple should  be  allowed  to  re-marry  and  try  it 
over  again  I  should  very  much  doubt.  In  all 
such  unhappy  married  cases  and  the  causes 
that  lead  to  such,  Mormonism  in  its  very  na- 
ture is  a  great  feeder. 

It  was  plainly  manifest  on  board  of  ship  that 
the  polygamy  and  loose  marriage  part  of  Mor- 


From  Liverpool  to  New  Orleans.          99 

monism  in  its  effects  on  the  members'  of  the 
church  was  demoralizing*.  Husbands  and  wives 
who  needed  a  principle  of  law  to  assist  their 
weakness  in  marriag-e  relation,  and  which 
would  incline  their  hearts  and  hands  toward 
each  other,  and  so  hold  or  assist  them  to  cling* 
together,  were,  by  the  loose  and  lax  law  of 
the  Mormon  religfion  relating*  to  marriag*e  ties, 
left  free  to  run  through  these  open  floodgates  of 
weak  humanity  and  act  out  their  desires 
as  opportunities  mig-ht  permit,  and  as  those  on 
board  of  ship  and  similar  mig-ht  and  did  present. 
In  its  working's  and  tendencies  in  relation  to 
marriag-e  it  may  be  truly  said  of  it— that  it  is 
the  destroyer  of  home  and  family. 

•  Some  of  the  returning-  missionaries  were 
charg-ed  with  indiscretions  in  relation  to  the 
opposite  sex  and  were  returning-  home  under 
censure.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  fully  de- 
termine what  is  rig-ht  in  the  many-faced  system 
of  Mormonism,  with  its  claims  of  immediate 
and  direct  revelations  from  God  to  meet  any  and 
every  new  case  as  it  may  come  up  before  them. 
For  by  immediate  inspiration  the  heads  of  the 
church  settle  up  matters  as  seemeth  them  g-ood. 


100      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

Another  of  our  weekly  meetings  is  on  hand. 
Brother  and  Sister  Squires  during  the,  day 
had  gone  on  grand  parade  in  one  of  their  un- 
pleasant family  exhibitions.  They  let  go  all 
reserve  and  respect  for  themselves  and  all 
around  them.  I  could  but  feel  such  weak  un- 
fortunates were  objects  of  pity.  Their  quarrel 
was  so  extravagant  that  they  made  it  unpleas- 
ant for  all  around  them.  How  could  it  be 
otherwise,  when  each  was  courting  another 
future  companion?  O  thou  evil  religion  that 
encourages  and  tolerates  such  ! 

But  added  to  this,  during  this  day  of  our 
weekly  meeting,  the  elders  and  the  deacons, 
whose  berths  joined,  had  been  looking  and  see- 
ing things  in  a  different  light.  They,  too,  had 
quarrelled,  and  it  was  evident  by  their  conduct 
that  brotherly  love  had  discontinued.  They 
would  not  look  at  or  speak  to  each  other. 

The  time  for  our  weekly  meeting  is  just  at 
hand,  and  I  am  wondering  what  influence  the 
church  they  have  declared  they  knew  to  be  of 
God  is  going  to  have  on  them,  in  this  state  of 
things.  These  three  families  in  their  quarrels 
appear  to  be  all  upset.  They  are  looking 


From  Liverpool  to  New  Orleans.        101 

gloomy,  they  turn  away  from  each  other,  and 
with  these  three  most  prominent  families  in  our 
little  cabin  in  this  condition,  our  meeting" 
(weekly  meeting)  is  on  hand.  I  am  now  won- 
dering" what  the  Mormon  spirit  will  do  for 
these  brethren  and  how  they  will  act  toward 
each  other  in  our  devotional  exercises.  These 
poor,  weak  brethren  are  sitting",  waiting*  for 
some  one  to  make  a  move.  The  president,  the 
deacon,  and  the  able  brother  gifted  with  un- 
known miraculous  tongfues — they  are  all  un- 
strung" with  family  quarrels. 

The  time  for  the  exercises  is  over-due  and  all 
is  g"loom.  The  knowledge  that  the  church  was 
of  God  and  known  to  be  such  appears  just  now 
to  have  lost  its  influence  and  inspiration. 
I  wondered  some  if  they  felt  at  this  time  that 
they  were  on  their  way  to  Zion.  Outward 
appearances  mig"ht  have  indicated  that  they 
were  sailing"  to  an  American  penitentiary  under 
a  life  sentence.  I  saw  now  unless  myself,  or 
some  one  else  other  than  the  regfular  officers, 
made  a  move,  the  meeting"  would  hang"  fire. 
We  waited  and  waited,  and  at  last  I  ap- 
proached the  president  and  asked  in  a  low  tone 


102      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

if  he  were  not  going  to  open  the  meet- 
ing. He  answered  in  a  grum  voice  he  did  not 
know,  that  he  did  not  feel  like  it.  He  was  not 
delighting  in  the  office  of  president  at  that  time 
as  he  had  once  when  first  elected. 

But  now,  poor  brother,  he  was  sour  at  Bro. 
Mullen,  the  deaco'n  and  miraculous  interpreter 
of  unknown  tongues.  The  deacon  at  this  time 
had  his  face  turned  away  from  the  president ; 
Belshazzar-like,  his  face  was  toward  the  wall. 
Bro.  Squires  looked  as  though  he  was  disgusted 
with  himself  and  all  his  surroundings. 

I  have  to  confess  at  this  time  I  was  criticis- 
ing them  all  rather  severely.  I  felt  now  I  was 
at  par  and  getting  even  with  them.  They  had 
looked  upon  me  as  a  brother  weak  in  the  faith 
and  as  needing  their  divine  assistance.  But 
about  this  time  I  was  feeling  there  were  other 
brethren  on  board  the  ship  Golconda  going  to 
Zion  all  out  of  spiritual  tune,  and  I  was  bound 
to  have  them  feel  it.  I  was  probably  myself 
feeling  at  this  time  a  little  above  my  normal 
size.  But  my  turn  had  come  and  I  was  taking 
the  situation  in  rather  enjoyably.  The  breth- 
ren were  evidently  all  ashamed  of  themselves 


From  Liverpool  to  New  Orleans.        103 

and  their  state  of  mind.  They  looked  as 
though  they  were  on  the  penance  stool,  and  I 
insisting  that  it  was  a  wrong  imposed  upon  the 
balance  of  us  to  be  deprived  by  them  of  our 
public  devotions.  I  felt  sure  the  meeting  was 
to  be  a  failure.  I  was  anxious  to  witness  the 
actual  movement.  I  felt  at  this  time  that  this 
part  to  myself  was  experience  and  observation 
among  the  Mormons.  Finally  the  president 
did  in  a  lifeless,  formal  way  open  the  meeting. 
No  one  except  my  friend,  Bro.  W.  W.,  and 
myself  were  active  in  the  exercises.  The  Mor- 
mon faith  and  natural  enthusiasm  had  yielded 
to  petty  family  quarrels,  and  there  was  noth- 
ing left.  O  Mormonism  !  where  art  thou  now 
fled?  The  president  said  but  little,  sat  down 
and  remained  so.  Bro.  Mullen,  the  deacon, 
never  made  a  move,  never  turned  his  face  to  the 
audience.  The  meeting  evidently  partook  of 
that  iamiliar  hymn,  "How  tedious  and  taste- 
less the  hoiyrs  when  Jesus  no  longer  I  see." 
I  am  sure  there  was  but  little  of  Jesus  in  such 
a  meeting  as  that.  Finally  Bro.  Squires  rose 
to  his  feet,  said  but  little  and  went  off  into 
what  was  intended  for  a  miraculous  unknown 


104      Morrponism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

tongue ;  and  surely  his  tongue  or  language  was 
unknown,  for  after  he  had  finished  and  sat 
down,  Bro.  Mullen,  who  claimed  the  gift  of  in- 
terpretation of  miraculous  unknown  tongues, 
never  made  the  least  move.  Hence,  whatever 
might  have  been  intended,  was  lost  to  the  com- 
pany of  Saints  on  account  of  Bro.  Mullen's  in- 
terpreting power  being  deranged  by  his  quar- 
rel with'  the  president ;  and  thus  Bro.  Squires' 
inspired  unknown  tongues  were  lost  to  the 
Saints  for  want  of  inspired  interpretation. 

I  felt  then,  I  feel  now  when  reflecting  on  the 
then  attempts  at  divine  manifestations  in  sup- 
port of  Mormonism,  it  was  but  a  weak,  silly 
attempt  on  the  part  of  weak,  silly,  deceptive 
men  ;  and  yet  this  is  a  fair  sample  of  their  di- 
vine claims,  as  will  be  seen  by  our  further  ex- 
posure of  their  conduct.  I  need  not  say  that 
this  was  the  last  of  our  weekly  meetings.  No 
one  appeared  to  have  any  wish  or  respect  for 
meetings  after  that. 

I  ask,  in  all  candor,  did  the  divine  or  Holy 
Spirit  move  the  elder  to  speak  or  talk  as  he 
did  ?  And  did  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  actuate 
the  deacon  to  attempt  to  interpret  unknown 


From  Liverpool  to  Ne^v  Orleans.        105 

tongues  ?  The  conduct  of  these  professedly 
inspired  men  proved  that  God  was  not  in  them 
nor  with  them.  They  proved  they  were  able 
to  do  anything-  or  nothing  as  their  poor,  weak 
natures  were  acted  upon  by  surrounding,  out- 
side circumstances.  Surely,  if  the  general  de- 
meanor and  conduct  of  these  three  leading  offi- 
cers in  our  cabin  proved  anything,  it  proved 
they  were  actuated  or  inspired  by  the  Evil  One. 

We  are  now  sailing  near  a  warmer  climate. 
The  sisters  are  on  deck,  making  tents  to  be 
used  in  crossing  the  plains. 

The  excitement  on  board  of  ship  on  religious 
matters  is  quiet,  and  we  are  able  to  talk  more 
deliberately  with  each  other,  referring  to  spe- 
cial incidents  in  the  different  localities  we  had 
left  behind ;  many  of  the  more  faithful  fre- 
quently referring  to  and  relating  their  particu- 
lar patriarchal  blessing  pronounced  and  pre- 
dicted in  their  behalf ;  how  certain  patriarchs 
had  blessed  them  and  pronounced  on  them  in 
the  sense  of  sealing  their  safe  arrival  in  Zion 
and  the  wonderful  blessings  there  in  store  for 
them.  Many  of  these  people  so  blessed  had 
the  promise  to  become  great  and  renowned  in 


106      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

the  developments  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Many  of  them  had  been  promised  by  their  pa- 
triarchs to  live  to  see  the  majestic  and  glorious 
second  coming*  of  Jesus  Christ  on  the  earth, 
and  had  the  promise  of  seeing"  and  associating* 
with  Joseph  and  Hiram  Smith,  as  the  martyred 
saints  of  God.  Elder  Squires'  family,  from 
the  oldest  to  the  youngest,  were  under  the  in- 
fluence of  such  patriarchal  promises  and  pre- 
dictions, which  they  said  had  been  sealed  upon 
them.  They,  with  many  others,  were  evident- 
ly under  the  impression  that  these  thing's  prom- 
ised were  divinely  fixed  facts  sealed  upon  them 
by  their  inspired  patriarchs,  and  that  such  were 
all  recorded  and  sealed  in  heaven,  and  that 
God's  divine  messengers — the  ang^els  of  heaven 
—would  attend  their  fulfillment.  They  had 
paid  their  dollar  per  head  for  such  patriarchal 
fallacies  and  deceptions,  for  such  I  proved 
many  of  them  to  be.  Many  of  those  people 
who  had  been  promised  long*  life  and  prosperity 
in  their  expected  Zion,  I  assisted  to  lay  away 
in  death.  Their  patriarchs  had  deceived  them  ; 
they  had  practiced  fraud  upon  them  ;  had  taken 
their  fees,  and  had  g^iven  them  lies  in  return. 


From  Liverpool  to  New  Orleans.        107 

Patriarchs  and  their  pretended  blessings  for 
pay  I  proved  to  be  one  of  Smith's  absolute  de- 
ceptions ;  for,  by  my  own  hands,  I  assisted  in 
putting*  away  in  their  graves  many  who  had  by 
these  false  patriarchs  been  sealed  for  long  life 
in  Zion.  Poor,  deluded  people  !  how  little  did 
they  or  I  know,  at  the  time  they  on  board  of 
ship  were  relating*  such  prospective  anticipa- 
tions of  long-  life  and  future  joy,  that  I  should 
in  a  few  weeks  assist  in  placing-  them  in  their 
graves,  for  such  it  proved  to  be ;  and  in  spite 
of  Joseph  Smith  and  his  divine  claims  for  in- 
spired patriarchs,  God  allowed  them  to  be 
proven  false  in  the  strictest  sense  of  fact. 

This  patriarchal  deception  is  among-  the 
grossest  of  Mormon  deceptions  and  impositions 
practiced  upon  the  innocent  masses  of  their  fol- 
lowing-. After  all  the  blessings  for  long-  life 
and  happy  associations  in  Zion,  as  related  to 
me  on  board  of  ship  by  Elder  Squires  and  his 
family,  and  which  they  fully  believed,  every 
one  of  this  family,  except  himself  and  son-in- 
law,  was  taken  away  by  death,  at  St.  Louis, 
where  I  assisted  at  their  funerals.  Yes,  I  wit- 
nessed the  dying-  and  the  death  of  a  number  of 


108      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

this  cholera-smitten  family,  who  their  patri- 
archs had  said  should  live  long"  and  see  and  en- 
joy happy  life  in  Zion.  Will  not  God  bring* 
those  patriarchs  and  their  deceptions  into  judg-- 
ment  ?  Yes,  with  Joseph  Smith,  the  founder 
of  such  deceiving-s. 

And  now  this  Elder  Squires  is  bereft  of  his 
family.  Poor,  grief-stricken  brother,  bright 
as  a  preacher,  noted  as  a  public  speaker,  but 
now  an  object  of  sympathy  and  pity  from  those 
around  him.  Ever  after  this,  poor,  dejected 
brother,  he  looked  and  acted  as  one  "passing- 
under  the  rod."  Poor,  heart-smitten  fellow ! 
Lonesome  and  sad  must  he  have  felt  when  in 
Salt  Lake  he  remembered  much  of  the  past  re- 
garding- his  family,  who  had  fallen  by  the 
wayside,  and  were  then  sleeping-  the  sleep  of 
death  at  St.  Louis,  by  the  side  of  the  great 
Mississippi  River,  instead  of  living-  and  enjoy- 
ing- the  promised  blessing-  of  long-  life  (as  prom- 
ised by  their  patriarch)  in  Zion.  O  Mormon- 
ism  !  thou  art  a  deceiver ;  surely  thou  art  a  de- 
stroyer of  both  body  and  soul  of  man. 

I  ask,  Were  such  facts  as  the  above,  thus  far, 
calculated  to  build  me  up  in  the  faith  of  Mor- 


From  Liverpool  to  New  Orleans.        109 

monism  ?  No,  I  say  again,  No.  I  could  but 
realize  at  this  time,  in  the  face  of  all  those 
known  facts,  that  Mormonism,  as  a  system  of 
religion,  was  false — strictly  false — and  by  its 
nature  might  be  one  of  God's  sent  delusions, 
that  "if  possible  should  deceive  the  very  elect." 
Does  it  not  seem  strange  that  God  should  send 
delusions  ?  But  so  says  the  Bible.  The  nature 
of  the  divine  arrangement  appears  to  be  such 
that,  from  the  beginning  of  time  with  man 
good  and  evil  have  existed.  Yes,  good  and  evil 
appear  to  have  stood  against  each  other,  con- 
tending for  dominion  over  mankind,  each  in 
turn  contesting  what  man's  present  and  future 
destiny  shall  be.  We  see  good  and  evil  acting 
and  contending  for  dominion  over  man  in  the 
Garden  of  Eden.  Surely  man  must  be  an  im- 
portant factor  in  God's  divine  arrangement,  or 
those  two  great  spirits  would  not  so  contend 
for  man's  allegiance.  It  would  seem,  in  the 
Garden  of  Eden  that  the  spirit  and  power  of 
Satan  gained  the  ascendancy  over  man,  and 
man  became  the  absolute  loser,  for  the  time 
being,  with  the  promise  that  in  the  final  issue  the 
seed  of  the  woman  should  bruise  the  head  of 


110      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

the  serpent,  while  the  serpent  should  but  bruise 
the  heel  of  the  woman's  offspring1.  Good  and 
evil  are  seen  in  the  destruction  of  man  by  the 
flood,  when  but  one  family  survived.  From 
that  time  on,  we  have  g-ood  and  evil  contending- 
for  man  and  in  man.  We  see  it — good  and 
evil  contending- — in  the  elect  family,  Abraham 
and  his  offspring- ;  we  see  it  on  the  part  of  the 
Egyptians,  as  slave  rulers  in  Goshen  over  the 
enslaved  Israelites ;  we  see  good  and  evil 
throughout  the  national  people  of  God  until 
their  final  overthrow.  We  see  the  same  two— 
g-ood  and  evil — contending  spirits,  manifest  in 
Jesus  Christ  and  Satan  in  the  wilderness,  on 
the  temple,  and  on  the  mountain,  among-  the 
Gadarenes,  where  evil  spirits  are  numbered  by 
leg-ions.  Also  at  Gethsemane  we  see  it — g-ood 
and  evil — when  we  hear  Jesus  say,  "My  soul  is 
exceeding-  sorrowful,"  and  when  he  says,  "My 
God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?" 
and  when,  on  the  cross,  he  said,  "It  is  fin- 
ished," and  from  that  time  to  the  present — 
near  two  thousand  years — we  see  g-ood  and  evil 
standing  as  in  battle  array,  contending  for  do- 
minion over  man.  It  might  well  be  said, 


From  Liverpool  to  New  Orleans.        Ill 

"What  is  man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of 
him  ?  ' '  But  all  that  relates  to  man  is  but  part 
of  God's  divine,  sovereign  arrangement.  "  The 
potter  hath  power  over  clay,  of  the  same  lump 
to  make  one  vessel  to  honor,  and  another  to 
dishonor."  Jesus  did  have,  for  some  unseen, 
unknown  purpose,  a  Judas  as  one  of  the  twelve 
apostles,  who  was  a  devil  from  the  beginning*. 
God  could  raise  up  a  Pharaoh,  a  wicked,  rebel- 
lious king,  by  whom  to  teach  wicked  nations 
and  their  kings  necessary  national  lessons  ;  and 
a  merciful  God  could  prepare  a  world's  Re- 
deemer from  before  the  foundation  of  the  world, 
and  he  could  foresee  and  predestinate  from  be- 
fore the  foundation  of  the  world  those  who 
should  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son  ;  and 
he  could  give  them  special  calls,  could  justify, 
and  also  sanctify.  He  could  anoint  a  Jeremiah 
to  be  a  prophet  to  the  nations,  before  he  was 
formed  in  the  belly,  or  before  he  came  forth, 
and  fill  a  John  the  Baptist  with  the  Holy  Ghost 
from  his  birth.  Hence,  as  is  said  in  the  script- 
ure, "It  is  not  of  him  that  willeth,  nor  of  him 
that  runneth,  but  of  God  which  showeth  mercy. 
What  if  God  is  willing  to  endure  with  much 


112      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

long-suffering  the  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  for 
destruction?" 

Looking*  at  all  this  pre-arrangement  of  good 
and  evil  on  the  part  of  God,  and  which  seem  to 
be  but  parts  of  God's  divine  arrangement,  need 
we  wonder  that  even  a  Joseph  Smith,  as  a  false 
prophet,  should  make  his  appearance  in  these 
last  days,  and  institute  a  false  religious  system, 
and  have  a  following,  as  the  one  in  this  effort  I 
am  considering? 

Mormonism,  from  its  incipiency,  has  claimed 
to  be  the  only  God-recognized  religious  system 
upon  the  earth,  and  that  all  other  religions 
were  of  Satan.  It  is  not  unreasonable  that  a 
false  religion  might  exist  in  our  day,  as  has 
been  the  condition  of  the  world  all  down  the 
stream  of  time,  and  it  is  clear  to  the  mind  of 
the  writer  that  Mormonism  is,  at  least,  one  of 
such  false  religions.  Satan,  from  the  com- 
mencement, appears  always  to  have  been 
around  or  on  hand  with  his  false  religion,  and 
is  none  the  less  so  now.  He  appears  to  have 
been,  as  a  stranger,  the  first  to  visit  our  first 
parents,  and  it  would  appear  from  the  account 
of  his  visit  and  his  manner,  to  have  been  very 


From  Liverpool  to  New  Orleans.        113 

inquisitively  smooth  and  polite.  As  to  his  age, 
and  the  history  of  his  prior  course  of  life,  we 
have  but  little  account  in  the  Bible  ;  and  though 
he  is  sometimes  called  the  Evil  One,  yet  from 
the  fact  that  God  tolerates  him  in  this  fallen 
earth  state,  it  is  fair  to  concede  to  Satan  that 
his  presence  with  us  on  the  earth  in  its  present 
state  is  not  void  of  right.  Surely,  Satan  is 
with  us  by  God's  permission ;  and  if  so,  he 
must  have  some  rights.  He  surely  had  the 
right  to  tempt  our  first  parents,  and  if  a  right 
to  tempt,  the  right  to  deceive  and  mislead. 
Satan  appears  to  have  had  the  right  to  tempt 
and  to  mislead  mankind  all  down  the  current 
of  time.  In  the  book  of  Job,  which  is  said  to 
be  a  Chaldean  book,  and  the  oldest  of  the  Bible, 
Satan  appears  to  have  met  with  the  sons  of 
God  in  that  early  day,  among  the  Chaldeans. 
His  only  purpose  there  at  that  time  was  to 
ask  God  to  allow  him  to  tempt  that  Chaldean 
man — Job.  From  what  history  we  have  of 
Satan  in  the  Bible,  he  appears  always  to  have 
been  going  about  as  a  roaring  lion,  seeking 
whom  he  may  devour.  From  Adam  down  to 

the  present,  it  would  seem  as  though  Satan  had 

8 


114      Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

always  had  a  large  majority  of  human  following-. 
Satan  appears  to  have  the  right,  and  did  tempt 
the  Son  of  God  ;  and  all  the  way  through  com- 
ing time,  Satan  is  represented  as  active  in  his 
mission  among  men.  It  is  said  he  is  to  be  re- 
strained for  a  thousand  years  ;  but  after  this  he 
is  out  again,  active  and  succeeding  in  his  work. 
But  when  time  shall  be  declared  to  be  no  more, 
his  mission  among  men  will  end.  Por  it  is  said 
of  Jesus,  "He  shall  destroy  him  which  has  the 
power  of  death,  which  is  the  devil."  Satan 
having  so  many  conferred  rights,  and  so  much 
evil  spirit  power,  who  need  wonder  that  he 
should  make  use  of  Joseph  Smith,  or  any  Smith, 
Jones,  or  other  person,  by  whom  to  oppose  the 
right  and  the  true  religion,  which  is  clearly  set 
forth  in  and  by  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and 
as  Paul  said  to  the  Philippian  church,  "Ye  are 
complete  in  him" — Jesus?  Yes,  dear  reader,  the 
Christian  is  complete  in  Jesus,  and  needs  not 
Joseph  Smith  or  his  constructed  system  of  re- 
ligion. But  "by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them."  Jesus  was  rich,  and  for  the  good  of 
mankind  became  poor,  in  order  that  mankind 
might  become  rich.  Joseph  Smith  and  many 


From  Liverpool  to  New  Orleans.        115 

of  his  coadjutors  were  poor ;  but  many,  like 
Brigham  Young,  became  rich. 

The  Mormons  as  a  people  are  made  up  of  de- 
ceivers and  the  deceived.  Few,  comparatively, 
are  the  real  deceivers,  but  many  are  the  de- 
ceived. Yes,  I  am  sure  the  masses  of  the  Mor- 
mon people  are  of  the  deceived ;  but  they  are  in 
the  net  of  Satan  as  a  system  of  religion.  The 
masses  of  Mormons  are  the  blind  led  by  the 
blind,  and  are  in  the  ditch — false  religion.  The 
masses,  as  a  people,  apart  from  their  false  sys- 
tem of  religion,  are  at  par  and  in  common  with 
other  parts  of  the  civilized  world.  But  an  evil 
religion  is  the  most  successful  device  which 
Satan  has  instituted  for  misleading  and  demor- 
alizing the  sons  of  men. 

For  the  highest  evidence  of  the  infallible  re- 
ligion of  God  to  man,  I  base  my  whole  being  on 
the  New  Testament  for  faith  and  conduct.  I 
collect  for  myself  what  I  conceive  to  be  abso- 
lutely essential  to  my  salvation,  and  whatever 
by  myself  cannot  be  demonstrated  as  essential 
to  salvation,  I  leave  to  my  feJlow's  conscience, 
asking,  in  return,  the  same. 

The  elders   on  board    of  ship  now  began  to 


116      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

prepare  the  minds  of  the  saints  for  landing1. 
They  told  us  we  should  find  many  persons  in 
New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis  who  had  once  been 
members  of  the  church,  but  for  various  reasons 
had  left  it,  and  that  they  would  misrepresent 
the  church,  and  endeavor  to  persuade  us  to 
abandon  it ;  and  it  was  true,  for  we  met  many 
such,  and  I  do  not  wonder  there  should  be  so 
many  such  in  these  and  many  other  parts  of 
America,  for  they  had  learned  what  I  had 
learned  thus  far  with  them,  and  proposed  to 
abandon  them  on  landing-  in  the  country.  My 
only  wonder  was  that  most  of  them  did  not  de- 
sert, on  their  arrival  in  America,  without  g'oing' 
farther,  much  less  to  Salt  Lake.  The  elders 
had  their  warning's  wonderfully  pictured  up, 
enougfh  so  to  make  us  fearful  of  landing.  Mor- 
monism and  its  working's  are  much  better  known 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  than  on 
the  east ;  and  the  elders  knowing'  this,  labored 
the  more  to  prejudice  our  minds  and  gfuard  us 
against  it  But  many  of  us  had  paid, our  pas- 
sag*e  throug^h  to.  Salt  Lake,  and  there  was  not 
so  much  danger  of  us  dropping1  out  by  the  way. 
The  elders  represented  New  Orleans  as  the 


From  Liverpool  to  New  Orleans.        117 

gate  of  hell.  It  could  be  seen  on  this  point 
that  it  was  not  difficult  to  alarm  strangers,  for 
many  of  those  on  board  were  almost  afraid  to 
land  for  fear  of  these  apostate  Mormons.  We 
found  many  ,._  x^ose  two  cities  who  at  one  time 
had  been  Mortnods,fjmit  who  had  abandoned  the 
church  ;  and  such  were  free  to  advise  others  in 
the  same  direction  ;  but  we  met  no  trouble  from 
them.  They  had  learned  and  found  out  many 
things  which  would  have  been  well  for  many 
of  us  to  have  known,  and  which  the  writer 
found  out  long  ago. 

We  have  crossed  the  Atlantic  Ocean  ;  have 
seen  at  a  distance  some  of  the  small  western 
isles  ;  we  have  crossed  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and 
a  little  steam  tug  is  approaching  the  ship  to 
tow  us  into  and  up  the  Mississippi  River  to 
New  Orleans.  We  had  been  six  weeks  on  the 
ocean  ;  we  were  tired  of  ship  life,  and  were 
anxious  to  land  and  tread  on  land  again.  The 
sight  of  the  American  continent  was  cheering 
to  all  hearts — it  was  truly  inspiring  and  exhil- 
arating. I  had  read  when  a  boy  much  of  its 
history ;  but  now  it  is  real,  and  the  imagina- 
tions of  my  boyish  days  came  up  before  me.  I 


118      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

felt  as  though  I  was  now  entering*  upon  both  a 
new  country  and  a  new  life.  I  felt  America 
was  to  be  my  abiding*  place  the  remainder  of 
my  days,  and  when  my  feet  first  rested  on  its 
solid  shore,  I  stamped  Jike  a  '  >y,  and  was 
happy.  I  had  surmised  for  numy  a  year  that 
in  America  my  lot  would  be  cast — westward 
across  the  blue,  blue  sea,  to  the  land  of  my 
choice,  of  the  brave  and  the  free,  and  where 
for  many  years  I  had  long-ed  to  be.  I  now  be- 
gan to  wonder  what  this  great  country,  with 
its  free  government,  in  the  future  had  stored 
up  in  its  bosom  for  me.  But  for  this  I  must 
wait,  leaving  my  destiny  in  this  new  land  in 
the  hands  of  God,  "who  is  too  wise  to  err  and 
too  good  to  be  unkind." 

We  are  now  being  towed  up  the  Mississippi 
River.  On  its  banks  are  the  orange  groves,  with 
fruit  apparently  ripe  ;  and  on  a  beautiful  Sun- 
day morning  we  land  at  the  renowned  city  of 
New  Orleans.  Here,  to  us,  everything  was  new 
and  strange.  The  city  appeared  a  stirring,  fast 
place.  We  could  know  but  little  of  it,  for  we 
were  in  it  but  two  days.  We  had  seen  large 
towns  in  our  native  country — London,  with  its 


From  Livci-pool  to  JVew  Orleans.        117 

g-atc  of  hell.  It  could  be  seen  on  this  point 
that  it  was  not  difficult  to  alarm  strangers,  for 
many  of  those  on  board  were  almost  afraid  to 
land  for  fear  of  these  apostate  Mormons.  We 
found  many  in  those  two  cities  who  at  one  time 
had  been  Mormons,  but  who  had  abandoned  the 
church  ;  and  such  were  free  to  advise  others  in 
the  same  direction  ;  but  we  met  no  trouble  from 
them.  They  had  learned  and  found  out  many 
things  which  would  have  been  well  for  many 
of  us  to  have  known,  and  which  the  writer 
found  out  long"  ago. 

We  have  crossed  the  Atlantic  Ocean  ;  have 
seen  at  a  distance  some  of  the  small  western 
isles  ;  we  have  crossed  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and 
a  little  steam  tu<r  is  approaching*  the  ship  to 
tow  us  into  and  up  the  Mississippi  River  to 
New  Orleans.  We  had  been  six  weeks  on  the 
ocean  ;  we  were  tired  of  ship  life,  and  were 
anxious  to  land  and  tread  on  land  a<fain.  The 
sig"ht  of  the  American  continent  was  cheering* 
to  all  hearts — it  was  truly  inspiring  and  exhil- 
arating. I  had  read  when  a  boy  much  of  its 
history;  but  now  it  is  real,  and  the  imagina- 
tions of  my  boyish  days  came  up  before  me.  I 


118      Aft}  rni  tt  n  is  in  Exposed  a  H  d  JRt  •/>/  ted. 

felt  as  though  I  was  now  entering  upon  both  a 
new  country  and  a  new  life.  I  felt  America 
was  to  be  my  abiding  place  the  remainder  of 
my  days,  and  when  my  feet  first  rested  on  its 
solid  shore,  I  stamped  like  a  bov,  and  was 
happy.  I  had  surmised  for  manv  a  year  that 
in  America  my  lot  would  be  cast — westward 
across  the  blue,  blue  sea,  to  the  land  of  my 
choice,  of  the  brave  and  the  free,  and  where 
for  many  years  I  had  longed  to  be.  I  now  be- 
gan to  wonder  what  this  great  countrvT^with 
its  free  government,  in  the  future  had  stored 
up  in  its  bosom  for  me.  But  for  this  I  must 
wait,  leaving  my  destiny  in  this  new  land  in 
the  hands  of  God,  44  who  is  too  wise  to  err  and 
too  good  to  be  unkind.*' 

We  are  now  being  towed  up  the  Mississippi 
River.  On  its  banks  are  the  orange  groves,  with 
fruit  apparently  ripe  ;  and  on  a  beautiful  Sun- 
day morning  we  land  at  the  renowned  city  of 
New  Orleans.  Here,  to  us,  everything  was  new 
and  strange.  The  city  appeared  a  stirring,  fast 
place.  We  could  know  but  little  of  it,  for  we 
were  in  it  but  two  days.  We  had  seen  large- 
towns  in  our  native  country — London,  with  its 


From  Liverpool  to  New  Orleans.        119 

swarming*  mass  of  human  life.  Large  cities  in 
the  New  World  had  not  so  much  attraction  for 
us  as  the  interior  of  the  country. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

FROM  NEW  ORLEANS  TO  KANSAS  CITY — CHOL- 
ERA— NO  HEALING. 

WE  remained  but  two  days  in  the  Cres- 
cent City,  when  the  ship's  company  of 
Mormons  took  passage  on  a  large  steamboat  on 
the  Mississippi  River  for  St.  Louis,  Mo.  The 
beautiful  river  and  land  scenery  was  truly  de- 
lightful, and  like  a  moving  panorama,  ever 
changing.  Beautiful  landscapes,  with  cities 
and  forests,  and  the  scenery  was  ever  new  and 
fresh,  as  the  great  monster  steamboat,  by  its 
mighty  steam  power,  plunged  its  bow  against 
the  heavy  current  of  the  Father  of  Waters. 

This  mammoth  steamer  on  the  lower  deck 
was  literally  packed  with  a  mass  of  human 
freight ;  below,  it  was  filled  with  merchandise  ; 
while  the  upper  deck  was  crowded  with  cabin 
passengers.  Such  a  moving  mass  is  seldom 
seen  by  many.  We  were  facing  the  current, 
and  the  great  throbbing,  plunging  monster  was 
like  a  city  in  motion.  I  could  but  think,  while 
(120) 


From  Ne^v  Orleans  to  Kansas  City.     121 

on  board  this  huge  boat,  that  the  people  and 
country  of  America  are  second  to  none  in  in- 
vention and  energetic  push.  The  sight  of  new 
towns  and  country  every  day  made  this  part  of 
our  journey  very  enjoyable.  The  boat  landing 
at  many  of  the  cities,  we  went  ashore  and  en- 
joyed our  rambles  in  those  Southerii  cities.  It 
was  the  latter  part  of  March  and  the  fore  part 
of  April,  and  we  enjoyed  at  this  time  both  cli- 
mate and  country.  When  the  boat  would  land 
by  the  forests  to  take  on  wood  for  fuel,  we 
would  go  out  with  our  guns  and  hunt  "in  the 
wild  woods  of  the  forest."  Change  of  scenery 
made  our  journey  less  monotonous  than  it  had 
been  on  the  ocean.  But,  alas  !  we  knew  not 
that  our  joy  would  be  turned  into  mourning  and 
health  into  sickness.  No,  we  knew  not  that 
the  Asiatic  cholera  was  slumbering  among  us 
as  a  company  of  Mormons,  and  that  in  a  few 
days  many  would  fall  victims  to  its  attack  and 
drop  by  the  wayside,  failing  to  arrive  at  their 
anticipated  and  cherished  Zion.  But  now  the 
cholera  is  among  us,  and  some  have  yielded  to 
the  destroyer ;  and  now  the  country  and  river 
from  which  we  had  derived  so  much  pleasure, 


122      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

had  become  a  country  and  river  of  death.  Our 
department  on  board  of  the  boat — the  lower 
deck — was  so  crowded  it  was  necessarily  un- 
healthy, and  it  was  at  once  proven  that  the 
sickness  among  us  was  in  fact  the  cholera.  At 
this  many  became  very  much  alarmed.  The 
sick  began  to  die,  and  when  the  boat  would 
stop  for  wood  for  fuel,  having  placed  the  dead 
in  rough  boxes,  we  took  them  and  buried  them 
in  the  woods  near  the  edge  of  the  river,  with- 
out prayer  or  ceremony,  for  the  higher  priest- 
hood on  board  was  not  then  to  be  seen.  A  num- 
ber whose  hearts  had  beat  warm  for  their 
prospective  Zion,  were  now  left  on  the  banks 
of  this  great  river,  cold  in  death.  Now  "our 
beauty  had  turned  to  ashes,  our  joy  to  mourn- 
ing, and  our  praise  to  heaviness."  I  doubt  not 
but  those  we  buried  on  the  banks  of  this  river, 
in  a  short  time  (on  account  of  its  washing 
banks),  would  be  found  floating  toward  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  Many  faces  now  were  gloomy 
and  sad,  their  loved  ones  having  fallen  by  the 
way,  leaving  them  ;  they  mournfully  and  sadly 
continued  their  journeying  toward  their  de- 
sired Zion. 


From  New  Orleans  to  Kansas  City.      123 

At  this  time  I  felt  that  America  was  not  all 
sunshine,  not  free  from  tears  and  sorrow  and 
death.  Some  of  those  cholera-stricken  people 
had  made  too  free  with  the  fruits  and  veg- 
etables of  the  country,  and  suffered  from  a 
broken  law. 

But  we  have  in  the  church  the  claim  of  the 
gift  of  healing,  and  now  the  sick  and  their 
friends  need  its  aid.  There  were  on  board  a 
number  of  the  leading  priesthood,  who  claimed 
the  gift  of  healing.  They  had  preached  it,  but 
now  it  was  needed,  was  it  called  for?  Was  any 
one  healed  ?  Not  to  my  knowledge.  I  was 
waiting  on  the  sick  ;  whether  any  or  many  of 
the  sick  called  for  the  elders  to  administer,  I 
cannot  say.  But  one  thing  I  know,  the  heads 
on  board  of  the  boat  could  not  be  found.  The 
sick  and  dying  were  left  to  sicken  and  die.  I 
saw  no  attempt  to  heal.  There  was  no  one 
healed.  The  heads  were  too  shrewd  and  de- 
ceptive to  make  an  attempt,  not  wishing  to  ex- 
pose themselves  by  having  the  people  see  and 
know  that  their  attempts  were  failures.  No, 
the  poor,  unfortunate,  cholera-stricken  were 
left  by  the  priesthood  (who  claimed  so  loudly 


124      Mormdnism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

their  divine,  miraculous  gift  to  heal  the  sick,) 
to  die  without  even  an  attempt.  I  had  joined 
the  church,  and  had  lived  and  traveled  with  it 
so  far  to  test  its  claims,  and  now  the  best  of 
opportunities  is  among  us.  But  no ;  as  in  the 
past,  I  am  yet  compelled  to  say,  No — no  healing 
when  healing  is  most  needed.  No,  healing 
the  sick  among  the  Mormons  is  mere  pretense 
—just  to  talk  about.  They  can  speak  in  un- 
known tongues ;  so  can  any  one  who  can  allow 
himself  to  be  sufficiently  foolish  to  make  the 
attempt.  I  once  tried  it  when  I  was  more 
than  sure  that  no  one  could  possibty  hear,  ex- 
cept the  pet  cow  I  was  driving  at  the  time,  and 
to  my  surprise  I  scared  the  cow.  But  while  we 
have  a  number  sick  among  us  with  cholera,  we 
do  not  need  the  gift  of  tongues.  No,  we  need 
the  gift  of  healing  the  sick,  and  it  is  not  there. 
No,  the  sick  must  remain  sick,  or  die,  as  far  as 
Mormonism  goes.  I  ask,  Where  is  Joseph 
Smith's  church  now,  with  its  God-given  anoint- 
ings? 

There  was  one  particular  case  about  this 
time  on  board  of  the  boat.  A  child,  some  five 
or  six  years  of  age,  appeared  to  be  very  sick, 


From  New  Orleans  to  Kansas  City.      125 

and  it  kept  up  such  an  inhuman  howling*  it  dis- 
turbed every  one  around  it,  and  a  few  of  the 
lesser  priests  and  elders  near  the  child  under- 
took to  lay  hands  upon  it  for  the  purpose  of 
healing*.  A  brother  who  assisted  in  this  case 
related  to  me  his  experience  in  the  matter.  He 
said,  while  he  had  his  hands  on  the  head  of  the 
chi1d,  a  multitude  of  evil  spirits  appeared  to 
pass  from  the  child  and  enter  himself,  which 
made  him  feel  very  strang-e,  and  produced  on 
him  the  symptoms  of  cholera,  and  he  was  at 
the  time  he  told  me  suffering*  from  such.  He 
also  remarked  that  he  should  be  very  slow  to 
attempt  another  administration  for  the  sick. 
This  child  made  a  noise  like  a  sick  dog-,  and  all 
around  it  thought  it  was  possessed  of  the  devil. 
The  officiating1  elder's  case  in  this  matter  re- 
minded me  of  the  seven  sons  of  Sceva,  who 
were  priests,  and  undertook  to  cast  out  devils 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  when  the  man  in 
whom  the  evil  spirit  was,  leaped  upon  them, 
the  evil  spirit  saying-,  "Jesus  I  know  ;  Paul  I 
know;  but  who  are  you?"  Acts  xix:  13-16. 
This  sick  child  died  shortly  after,  and  the  offici- 
ating- elder  recovered.  The  sons  of  Sceva  were 


126      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

nearly  overcome,  and  fled,  naked  and  wounded  ; 
and  this  officiating*  elder  felt  as  though  he  at 
the  time  had  endangered  his  life.  But  I  here  de- 
clare to  the  reader — I  say  it  emphatically  to  the 
world — that  in  this  hour  of  cholera  distress,  at 
this  time  the  higher  priesthood  of  the  Mormon 
church  on  board  the  boat,  who  had  the  com- 
pany of  Mormons  in  charg-e,  played  worse  than 
false ;  for,  when  the  cholera  came,  as  hireling's 
they  forsook — deserted — and  fled.  When  I 
think  of  that  time  and  place,  and  the  sadness 
and  sorrow  of  those  cholera-stricken  ones,  and 
their  distressed  friends  around  them  ;  how  they 
were  so  absolutely  abandoned  and  deserted  by 
the  heads  of  the  church,  who  should,  according 
to  their  pretensions,  have  healed  and  comforted 
such  poor,  suffering-  creatures,  my  very  soul  is 
wrought  up  in  righteous  indignation  at  such 
false  pretenders  and  their  false  pretensions. 
Such  false  claims  and  false  pretensions  would 
almost  outdo  Satan  himself  in  pure  human  self- 
ishness and  false  religion. 

Many  of  these  saints  who  were  now  falling 
by  the  way,  had  received  their  patriarchal 
blessing.  They  had  paid  the  patriarch  fqr  tell- 


From  7V<m'  Orleans  to  Kansas  City.      127 

ing-  them  their  religious  fortunes — for  I  can 
look  on  it  in  no  other  light  than  an  attempt  at 
fortune  telling-.  But  their  patriarchs  had  told 
many  of  them  that  they  should  arrive  safely 
and  spend  many  happy  days  in  Zion  ;  and  under 
this,  in  full  belief,  they  were  journe}nng.  But 
how  must  the  dying-  and  their  friends  have  now 
felt,  when  all  their  patriarchal  promises  were 
failing*  them,  and  they  were  being-  dropped  by 
the  wayside,  buried  in  a  few  moments  in  a  for- 
eign country,  without  a  word  of  ceremony,  un- 
der the  influence  of  a  religion  that  was  demon- 
strating- itself  false  to  them?  Their  relig-ion 
and  circumstances  at  this  time  were  truly  soul- 
crushing*.  To  die  under  such  a  condition  of 
thing's  was  but  to  leave  the  world  and  their 
friends  in  despair — without  hope  ;  proving-  un- 
mistakably the  fallacy  of  their  relig-ion  by  dying- 
short  of  their  Zion,  which  by  the  patriarchs 
had  been  sealed  to  them.  Here  I  almost  feel 
to  condemn  Satan  himself,  as  the  instigator  of 
false  relig'ion.  Friends  bereft  of  their  loved 
ones,  in  tears  had  left  them  behind  to  sleep  in 
silence,  awaiting  the  resurrection  of  the  just 
and  the  unjust,  where  they  hoped  to  meet  them 


128      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refitted. 

again.  But  what  must  have  been  the  feeling's 
and  thoughts  of  these  surviving"  friends  when 
looking*  back  upon  their  dear  departed  ones  and 
the  patriarchal  predictions  of  the  church  relating* 
to  them?  Such  would  feel — would  know— 
Mormonism,  thou  art  untrue ;  surely  thou  art 
false  ! 

It  would  appear  that  some  one  should  be  re- 
sponsible for  leading-  off  such  people  from  their 
homes  and  countries,  bringing-  upon  them  such 
suffering  and  death.  When  "every  act  of  man, 
with  every  secret  thought,  shall  be  brought 
into  judgment,"  surely  those  deceivers  in  Mor- 
monism will  have  their  false  religion  to  answer 
for. 

I  was  not  now  growing  in  the  faith  of  Mor- 
monism. No ;  I  was  forcibly  driven  in  the  op- 
posite direction.  Every  advancing  step  was 
bringing  proof  against  them  ;  and  what  I  found 
to  be  true  here,  in  this  attack  of  cholera,  and 
their  healing  of  the  sick,  I  have  found  equally 
true  in  the  whole  of  my  experience  with  them, 
without  an  exception,  as  to  the  various  branches 
of  the  church,  from  Joseph  Smith  to  the  pres- 
ent. Had  I  not  paid  my  fare  through  to  Salt 


From  Neiv  Orleans  to  Kansas  City.      129 

Lake  City,  no  doubt  I  should  have  deserted 
them  on  the  journey,  for  I  had  found,  thus  far, 
so  many  things  which  disproved  their  claims 
and  pretensions,  I  have  wondered  how,  as  a 
people,  they  could  possibly  hold  on  to  their 
claim  to  healing",  when  they  knew,  beyond  all 
doubt,  that  in  ninety  and  nine  cases  out  of  ev- 
ery hundred  with  which  they  are  surrounded 
they  remain  without  a  shadow  of  healing". 

We  are  now  nearing  St.  Louis.  We  have 
been  fourteen  days  on  the  Mississippi  River 
from  New  Orleans  to  this  place,  sometimes  de- 
layed by  the  boat  running-  upon  sand-bars. 
But  we  are  landed  in  the  city,  and  piled  up  to- 
gether in  an  old  deserted  college  building",  and 
the*  cholera  raging"  more  fearfully  among"  us, 
having"  condemned,  wormy  crackers  served  out 
to  us 'for  bread. 

Here,  in  this  old  college  building,  I  witnessed 
the  death  by  cholera  of  all  the  Squires  family, 
except  himself  and  son-in-law.  Yes,  here  this 
family— the  wife,  married  daughter,  with  all 
the  children  and  grandchildren — who  had  been 
so  wonderfully  blessed  by  their  patriarchs,  and 
had  had  sealed  upon  their  heads  their  safe  ar- 
9 


130      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

rival  and  long",  prosperous,  happy  life  in  Zion, 
yielded  to  the  destroyer.  I  can  but  imagine 
the  anguish  of  mind  and  the  distress  of  soul 
the  members  of  this  family  must  have  suffered 
when  all  their  relig'ious  hopes  were  fled.  Sure- 
ly, poor,  death-smitten  creatures,  they  must 
have  died  "without  God  and  without  hope  in 
the  world."  I  often  wonder  who  is  able  to 
fathom  the  distress  of  mind  of  those  who  are 
crowded  into  death,  deserted  by  their  religion. 
I  had  seen  much  of  this  unfortunate  family  on 
board  of  ship,  as  referred  to  in  the  past,  and 
now  I  had  been  called  to  witness  their  sad  and 
deplorable  death  by  cholera.  I  still  pity  them. 
I  have  often  been  tempted,  when  calling-  to  mind 
this  family  (whom  we  left  to  sleep  the  sleep  of 
death  at  St.  Louis),  to  offer  a  prayer  for  the 
dead.  But  I  am  sure  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth 
will  do  right.  "Just  and  righteous  are  his 
judgments,  and  his  ways  according-  to  truth." 

While  in  this  old  college  building,  at  one 
time  we  were  not  able  to  procure  coffins  in 
which  to  place  the  dead,  and  they  were  laid  out 
in  the  open  court-yard,  and  guarded  throug-h 
the  night ;  and  yet,  in  the  midst  of  all  this, 


From  New  Orleans  to  Kansas  City.      131 

there  was  not  an  attempt,  to  my  knowledge,  to 
heal 'the  sick  by  the  high  priesthood  of  the 
church.  They  knew  full  well  they  did  not  pos- 
sess the  power,  and  were  wise  enough  not  to 
expose  themselves  by  making  known  the  fact  to 
the  people. 

But  one  special  case  while  we  remained  in  St. 
Louis  I  propose  to  give :  An  elderly  sister 
Jones,  a  Welsh  lady,  who  had  been  all  through 
our  cholera  siege  an  untiring  nurse,  and  manifest- 
ed no  fear  of  cholera.  She  had  full  faith  in  the 
claims  of  the  church  as  of  God ;  she  said  she 
had  received  her  patriarchal  blessings,  and  she 
was  sealed  to  arrive  safe  in  Zion,  and  she  felt 
it  impossible  for  her  to  die  on  the  way.  She 
acted  as  she  felt  and  talked.  She  was  evident- 
ly under  the  inspiration  ol  her  confidence.  She 
was  a  natural  or  constitutional  nurse.  But 
while  at  St.  Louis,  in  this  old  college  building, 
she  was  seized  with  cholera  and  in  a  few  hours 
she  died.  It  was  not  certain  she  was  conscious 
when  dying,  but  had  she  been,  how  must  she 
have  felt  when  entering  the  jaws  of  death ! 
Dear,  noble  woman !  Her  religion  had  failed 
her.  Her  patriarchal  blessings,  her  hopes  and 


132      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

expectations  in  them  had  fled,  and  I  see  not 
how  she  could  reach  out  and  grasp  any  other 
source  of  religion  to  sustain  her.  She,  too, 
must  have  passed  away  deceived  and  disap- 
pointed. O  thou  deceiving,  disappointing*  Mor- 
monism !  thou  provest  most  false  to  those  who 
most  rely  on  thee.  Never  was  there  a  clearer 
proof  of  the  fallacy  of  patriarchal  blessing's 
and  confidence  reposed  in  them ;  and  yet  Mor- 
monism continues  to  practice  its  patriarchal 
.deceptions  upon  its  followers.  How  misplaced 
was  this  sister's  confidence — but  her  faith  saved 
her  not.  Yes,  to  her  sorrow,  and  the  sorrow 
of  her  many  friends  around  her,  she  was  smit- 
ten by  the  destroyer,  and  in  an  hour  when  she 
and  her  friends  thought  not,  she  was  called 
away  by  death,  leaving"  another  proof  behind 
of  the  fallacy  of  her  religion.  And  now  she 
sleeps  in  death  at  St.  Louis,  instead  of  enjoy- 
ing- anticipated  happy  life  in  the  Mormon  Zion. 

I  was  now  journeying-  to  the  Mormon  Zion  to 
prove  its  divine  claims  as  an  institution  of  re- 
lig-ion,  and  for  the  present  I  leave  the  reader  to 
judg-e  the  result  up  to  this  time. 

We  were  next  put  upon  a  steamboat  at  St. 


From  Ne^v  Orleans  to  Kansas  City.      133 

Louis  for  Kansas  City.  The  cholera  was  still 
lingering*  with  us,  but  no  deaths  on  this  boat. 
We  were  landed  in  the  woods  above  the  city. 
The  city  was  small  at  this  time — 1854.  We 
had  tents,  and  were  camped  in  the  woods  where 
those  large,  massive  store-houses  and  the  Union 
depot  now  stand  ;  and  I  doubt  not  some  of  the 
mortal  remains  of  some  of  our  cholera-stricken 
company,  who  were  buried  on  that  spot,  were 
unearthed  when  the  foundations  of  those  build- 
ings were  dug*. 

I  shall  never  forg*et  the  death  of  a  young*  mar- 
ried sister,  who  died  and  was  buried  there. 
This  lady  was  seized  with  cholera  while  there, 
but  ling*ered  a  few  days.  She  had  left  a  rich 
and  happy  home  in  England,  with  a  young*  man 
—her  lover — and  they  had  married  on  their  way 
to  Salt  Lake.  But  she  had  left  without  her 
parents'  consent.  I  had  often  noticed  this  af- 
fectionate couple.  But  while  camped"  in  the 
woods  near  Kansas  City  they  came  more  par- 
ticularly to  my  notice.  While  rendering*  them 
assistance  in  their  sickness,  they  related  to  me 
their  past  history.  In  leaving*  England  and 
her  family,  this  lady  had  eloped  with  her  lover 


134      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

for  the  purpose  of  marriage,  and  was  going-  to 
Salt  Lake  with  her  husband.  She  evidently 
regretted  leaving-  her  home  and  parents  the 
way  she  had  done.  They  were  truly  affection- 
ate toward  each  other.  They  were  yet  true 
lovers.  But  it  was  becoming-  evident  she  must 
die,  and  if  ever  a  poor  mortal  shrank  from 
death  and  clung-  to  life  and  husband,  it  was 
this  dear,  cholera-stricken  wife  at  this  time. 
Both  of  them  appeared  as  thoug-h  it  was  impos- 
sible to  g-ive  each  other  up.  It  was  truly  dis- 
tressing- to  witness  their  strug-g-le  ag-ainst  death. 
The  poor,  distressed  wife  could  not  possibly 
g-ive  up  or  yield  to  death  ;  the  husband,  equally 
anxious,  and  strug-g-ling-  to  save  her  from  it. 
Oh,  how  those  two  dear  souls  did  cling-  to  each 
other !  But  she  must  g-o.  Death  had  called 
her,  and  its  claim  was  not  to  be  relaxed.  She 
must  g-o.  Death,  in  this  case,  was  determined 
on  victory,  and  in  the  terrible  strug-g-le  did  con- 
quer. Poor,  distressed,  dying-  creature,  I  felt, 
God  only  knows  the  secret  of  that  dear  soul, 
and  the  extent  of  her  mental  ang-uish  and  grief. 
It  was  truly  distressing-  to  witness  such  a  part- 
ing-. But  what  must  it  have  been  to  them?  I 


From  New  Orleans  to  Kansas  City.      135 

assisted  in  laying  away  the  mortal  remains  of 
the  beautiful  young  wife  of  a  few  months, 
where  those  large  buildings  referred  to  now 
stand.  Dear,  unfortunate  creature  !  She  was 
of  wealthy  parentage  in  England,  but  was 
buried  in  these  woods  in  America  as  humbly  as 
in  a  potter's-field.  Her  husband  retired  from 
camp  in  a  few  days,  apparently  broken-hearted 
and  undone,  and  I  saw  him  no  more.  This  af- 
fectionate wife  and  her  bereft  husband  suffered 
untold  mental  agony,  but  it  was  only  for  a  mo- 
ment ;  and  who  can  tell  the  amount  of  suffering 
they  both  might  have  had  to  endure  had  she 
lived  and  they  had  gone  forward  to  Mormon 
headquarters?  I  am  sure,  at  that  time,  many 
of  those  old  polygamic  officials  would  have  been 
attracted  by  her  beauty,  and  would  have  fast- 
ened their  lecherous  eyes  upon  her,  and  caused 
herself  and  husband  a  whole  life  of  heartfelt 
grief,  of  which  they  had  but  a  few  moments. 
And  who  can  tell  but  a  kind  Providence  was 
directing  even  death  to  their  greater  good? 
Many  such  cases  occurred  in  Salt  Lake,  where 
a  beautiful  wife  was  decoyed  from  her  husband 
by  those  in  authority  and  power.  With  some 


136      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

such  cases  I  afterward  became  acquainted, 
where  those  carnal-minded  priests  in  power 
ruined  families,  once  happy,  for  the  balance  of 
their  lives.  I  think,  from  my  own  observation 
among-  the  Mormons,  that  it  was  for  that  af- 
fectionate wife's  best  interest  and  greatest 
gxx)d,  that  she  was  carried  away  by  death  at 
that  time,  rather  than  take  the  risk  of  a  more 
advanced  life  among'  the  Mormons.  I  shall 
give  proof  of  this  from  my  observations  when 
in  Utah. 

But  there  was  one  thing-  clearly  manifest 
in  the  death  of  this  lovely  sister,  and  that 
was,  that  Mormonism  offered  her  soul  no  religf- 
ious  comfort.  Her  mind  had  been  directed  to 
Joseph  Smith  and  his  system  of  relig-ion,  and 
that  failed  her  when  struggling-  with  death. 
Had  she  been  heartily  converted  to  God  and  his 
Son  Jesus  Christ ;  had  she  had  the  indwelling-  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  her  own  soul  as  her  com- 
forter, such  would  have  reconciled  her  to  death 
in  hope  of  a  more  happy  future.  But  she  has 
gone  ;  she  sleeps  in  death,  and  shall  we  prepare 
to  meet  her  in  the  resurrection  of  the  just  and 
the  unjust,  when  all  hidden  thing's  shall  be 


From  Ncio  Orleans  to  Kansas  City.      137 

manifest,  and  our  real  life  stand  out  naked  and 
bare  before  God  and  the  "great  white  throne?" 

We  are  now  preparing  for  the  overland  part 
of  our  journey.  Cattle,  wagons  and  supplies 
are  being-  collected  at  Kansas  City,  on  the  Mis- 
souri River,  for  starting-  across  the  plains. 

With  a  few  others  I  am  sent  out  south  of  the 
city,  on  the  open  prairie,  to  take  charg-e  of  the 
church  cattle  and  herd  them  on  the  prairie. 
Here  for  the  first  time  I  had  an  opportunity  of 
seeing-  and  realizing-  the  beauty  and  fertility  of 
the  great  western  prairies.  Our  herd  ground 
was  but  a  short  distance  west  of  Independence, 
Jackson  County,  Mo.,  where  the  Temple  Block 
in  Independence  .remains  yet  unoccupied,  and 
where  Joseph  Smith  and  a  number  of  others, 
in  1831,  ceremoniously  buried  the  scrub  oak, 
with  the  rock  that  O.  Cowdery  carried  in  one 
hand  in  priestly  pomp,  and  where  some  thirty 
of  the  leading-  priests  of  the  church  played 
laying*  the  foundation  of  the  great  and  grand 
universal  city  and  temple,  to  which  all  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth  should  g-ather  and  worship. 
Over  sixty-one  years  have  passed  away,  and 
nothing-  has  been  added  to  the  oak  sill,  carried 


138      Mormonisin  Exposed  cutd  Refuted. 

by  twelve  honored  Mormon  priests,  and  the 
stone  which  Cowdery,  in  priestly  dignity,  car- 
ried in  one  hand.  No,  this  would-be  sacred 
spot — the  Temple  Block  in  the  center  of  Inde- 
pendence— lies  there  unoccupied,  save  by  a 
small  frame  shanty,  put  there  by  one  of  the  di- 
vided factions  of  the  church,  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining*  the  legal  title  to  the  temple  site, 
which  is  now  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the.  na- 
tion. But  this  vacant  Temple  Block,  in  Inde- 
pendence, Jackson  County,  Mo.,  stands  there 
as  a  perpetual  proof  of  the  fallacy  of  Smith 
and  his  coadjutors ;  and  while  it  so  stands  un- 
occupied it  will  declare  to  every  informed  Mor- 
mon that  Joseph  Smith  was  a  false  prophet,  and 
the  religion  he  established  a  false  religion.  It  is 
due  the  false  prophet  to  say  that  he  made  choice 
of  a  beautiful,  rich  part  of  the  country,  on 
which  he  established  such  an  absolute  failure. 

On  these  beautiful,  green,  rolling  prairies,  as 
I  rambled,  following  the  church  herd  of  cattle, 
I  truly  felt  I  was  realizing  the  dreams  and  im- 
aginations of  my  boyish  days  and  thoughts  of 
America.  This  was  in  May  and  June,  when 
the  prairies  appear  at  their  best.  I  shall  never 


From  Neiv  Orleans  to  Kansas  City.      139 

forget  the  first  evening-  and  night  I  spent  on 
these  prairies.  The  evening  was  calm,  my  soul 
wrapped  in  meditation  and  reflection.  I  was 
in  a  solemn  mood,  thinking  of  loved  ones  left 
far  behind,  when  I  heard  the  cooing  of  the 
prairie  chickens  at  a  distance,  but  knew  not 
what  they  were.  The  peculiar  cooings  of  these 
prairie  chickens  were  so  plaintive  I  felt  as 
if  the  spirits  of  loved  ones  were  calling  from 
beyond  the  sea,  to  commune  with  us  in  our  new 
western  home. 

Now  our  ocean  voyage  is  in  the  past.  The 
Mississippi  River,  with  its  calamities  of  death 
by  cholera,  is  left  behind  us.  St.  Louis,  the 
Missouri,  and  Kansas  City,  where  the  cholera 
ended  its  work  of  death  among  us  as  a  travel- 
ing company,  have  passed  behind,  and  we  are 
now  hopefully  expecting  the  worst  of  our  jour- 
ney is  over,  and  the  future  has  for  us  the  prom- 
ise of  better  and  happier  journeying.  And  yet 
we  have  twelve  hundred  miles  of  overland 
travel  with  oxen  and  wagons  before  us,  of  the 
real  nature  of  which  we  know  nothing. 

I  may  here  relate  a  peculiar  circumstance 
which  happened  to  the  herd  of  cattle  while  I 


140      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

had  them  in  charge.  The  herd  consisted  of 
several  hundred  head.  One  beautiful  morning* 
we  drove  them  out  into  the  Indian  Territory 
(but  which  is  now  the  state  of  Kansas).  We 
had  driven  the  herd  out  a  few  miles  from  the 
corral,  and  all  at  once  the  head  of  the  herd  be- 
gan to  swing  off,  and  in  a  few  moments  the 
whole  herd  was  in  a  full  run.  I  was  riding  a 
lazy  old  mule ;  the  remainder  of  the  men  were 
on  foot.  But  the  cattle  soon  all  spread  out  into 
the  hills,  and  neither  sight  nor  track  was  to  be 
seen,  of  one  of  them.  I  whipped  and  worked 
with  the  mule  to  follow,  but  in  a  short  time  I 
was  left  alone  with  the  lazy  old  mule  on  the 
prairie,  not  a  man  nor  a  head  of  the  herd  to  be 
seen.  But  just  think  how  the  man  in  charge 
of  the  herd  was  feeling  about  this  time.  I  felt 
truly  mortified,  and  knew  not  what  to  do.  I 
knew  nothing  about  a  cattle  stampede  at  that 
time,  and  knew  not  how  to  account  for  the  way 
the  cattle  had  acted.  It  looked  to  me  like  a 
peculiar  freak  on  the  part  of  the  herd.  I  was 
totally  unable  to  follow  them  on  such  a  lazy  old 
mule.  I  could  have  made  better  time  on  foot. 
I  rode  the  mule  to  camp  and  reported  the  happen- 


From  Neuu  Orleans  to  Kansas  City.      141 

ing  to  my  wife  and  the  other  sisters  in  the  tent, 
and  by  this  time  I  felt  the  herd  had  gone,  the 
good  Lord  knew  where,  lor  I  knew  not.  This 
broke  my  record  as  a  herdsman,  and  I  have 
never  had  an  opportunity  to  regain  it  since.  The 
cattle  were  all  finally  recovered,  and  I  was  re- 
lieved of  my  charge,  feeling  that  men  should 
know  the  business  in  which  they  engage  better 
than  I,  an  inexperienced  Englishman,  under- 
stood herding  cattle  in  America. 

At  this  time  most  of  the  companies  who  were 
to  start  from  this  point  on  the  Missouri  River 
were  collected  on  the  prairie  south  of  Kansas 
City.  And  now  another  selfish  church  propo- 
sition is  offered,  to  the  effect  that  all  those  of 
the  independent,  or  thirteen-pound  company, 
should  relinquish  their  claims  on  the  overland 
outfit — cattle,  wagons,  etc.  This  was  fixed  up 
in  camp  while  a  number  of  interested  ones  were 
with  the  herd ;  but  we,  too,  had  to  abide  by  the 
action  of  the  others  ;  for  when  in  Salt  Lake 
City  I  asked  for  a  statement  of  my  account 
with  the  emigration  company,  I  was  told  the 
whole  matter  had  been  turned  over  to  the 
church.  And  so  it  went.  Nor  did  I  feel  it  best 


142      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

to  make  a  loud  complaint.  The  whole  inter- 
course, so  Tar,  was  proving-  them  contract- 
breakers,  and  yet  they  would  claim  to  be  the 
saints  of  the  most  high  God.  Should  heaven 
in  the  world  to  come  be  made  up  of  such  saints, 
my  aspirations  to  enter  such  a  place  after  death 
would  surely  be  weak. 

I  have  wished,  in  my  connection  with  them, 
I  could  discover  something1  noble,  worthy  and 
unselfish  as  a  general  church  measure,  that  I 
mig-ht  credit  it  up  in  their  favor,  as  managers 
of  a  great  financial  interest.  But  no ;  it  as 
ever  proved  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the  heads 
of  the  church  to  take  from  the  poor  without 
giving"  anything-  in  return.  I  feel  almost 
wearied  and  exhausted  in  exposing-  their  self- 
ishness and  deception.  It  would  seem  they 
should  have  some  redeeming-  qualities  as  a  sys- 
tem. But  no,  I  see  them  not.  I  fail  to  find 
anything-  as  a  system  manag-ed  by  its  leaders 
that  I  may  be  able  to  record  in  their  favor. 
The  masses  of  the  more  humble  followers 
would  be  equal  to  any  class  of  people  if  they 
were  taug-ht  and  influenced  by  leaders  who  pos- 
sessed the  kind,  meek,  humble,  unselfish  spirit 


From  New  Orleans  to  Kansas  City.      143 

of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles.  But  all  peo- 
ple partake  more  or  less  of  the  spirit  and  ex- 
ample of  their  leaders.  John  D.  Lee  was  led 
on  by  his  leaders  from  bad  to  worse  until  he 
worked  out  his  own  destruction.  Many  others 
in  Mormonism  would  be  much  more  liberal  to 
non-Mormons  were  it  not  for  the  many  evil 
principles  incorporated  in  their  religious  sys- 
tem. Such  a  system,  and  such  leaders  of  such 
a  religion,  are  another  people  ;  they  have  an- 
other spirit ;  they  have  another  conscience  to 
that  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Christian  religion. 
Tell  me  not  that  such  are  the  people  of  God, 
and  their  religion  is  even  akin  to  that  of  Christ. 
We  have  now  our  wagons  all  on  hand,  and 
are  preparing  to  move.  Thirty-two  wagons 
are  to  compose  the  train.  We  have  two  yoke 
of  oxen  and  one  yoke  of  cows  to  each  wagon — 
the  cows  being  in  the  middle  of  the  team.  We 
have  had  a  glorious  time  putting  on  the  yokes. 
Think  of  a  lot  of  inexperienced  old-country 
men,  many  of  them  out  of  the  factories,  who 
had  never  handled  horses,  to  say  nothing  of 
wild  Texas  cattle,  and  you  have  a  faint  idea  how 
things  would  go.  There  were  many  of  us  who 


144      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

could  do  nothing*  only  to  become  scared,  and  in 
return  scare  the  cattle.  The  cattle  appeared 
to  be  afraid  of  us  and  our  awkward  foreign 
ways.  I  venture  to  say,  if  the  scene  of  the 
saints  at  this  time  had  been  photographed,  the 
picture  would  have  been  in  good  demand  at  a 
liberal  profit.  I  shall  never  forget  the  picture 
as  it  was  then  stereotyped  on  my  mind.  Many 
of  the  g-ood  brethren  looked  and  acted  as  thoug-h 
they  were  handling-  ferocious  wild  beasts,  both 
hands  raised  and  looking-  more  wild  than  did 
the  cattle,  and  apparently  fully  ready  at  any 
time  for  leave  of  absence.  Near  half  a  day 
had  been  spent  in  hitching-  the  teams  to  the 
wagons,  and  when  all  was  ready,  the  word  to 
move  was  g-iven  by  the  captain  ;  and  surely  it 
was  a  move  indeed,  but  of  a  mixed  kind.  Thir- 
ty-two teams,  mostly  of  raw  Texas  cattle,  were 
to  make  their  first  move,  with  about  twice  the 
number  of  raw  foreigners  as  drivers.  I  have 
looked  upon  this  as  the  climax  of  our  journey- 
ing to  Zion.  At  the  order  to  move,  we  moved 
in  every  direction.  It  would  have  been  diffi- 
cult for  a  spectator  to  determine  which  way 
Zion  lay  from  this  point  by  the  moving  of  the 


From  New  Orleans  to  Kansas  City.      145 

teams.  Some  of  them  would  not  move,  others 
moved  too  fast  and  in  the  wrong  direction,  some 
ran  off  and  got  out  of  control  of  their  drivers. 
I  had  seen  and  read  of  high  life  in  London,  but 
this  was  truly  high  life  on  the  western  prai- 
ries of  America.  Uniformity  and  order  in  the 
line  of  travel  here  were  dispensed  with.  It 
looked  for  a  little  while  as  though  it  would  be 
impossible  for  us  to  get  into  line ;  but  finally 
we  did.  Our  team  did  not  wish  ta  start,  and 
it  was  a  little  while  before  we  could  get  a  move 
Zionward.  But  it  finally  started  off  in  a  run, 
and  it  was  with  difficulty  we  could  keep  pace 
with  it.  We  had  three  drivers,  and  finally  got 
into  line.  One  wagon,  in  •which  was  an  aged 
sister  unable  to  walk,  started  off  at  full  speed 
down  grade,  and  soon  got  away  from  its  drivers. 
No  one  could  render  the  others  any  assistance, 
all  having  all  they  could  do  to  manage  their" 
own  teams.  All  became  anxious  about  the  run- 
away team  on  account  of  the  helpless,  aged  sis- 
ter in  the  wagon.  It  was  in  full  view  of  the 
train,  and  caused  much  anxiety ;  but  fortunate- 
ly it  struck  one  of  those  soft,  spongy,  miry 

places,  and  came  to  a  dead  stand,  and  nothing 
10 


146      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

was  injured.  In  a  few  hours  we  got  into  line 
and  made  a  few  miles  on  our  journey.  We  now 
moved  along*  from  day  to  day,  both  drivers  and 
teams  becoming  better  acquainted  with  each 
other  and  with  what  was  necessary  to  be  done. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

CROSSING    THE     PLAINS     FROM    KANSAS    CITY 
TO    SALT 


THE  train  was  organized  (Israel-like)  into 
hundreds,  fifties  and  tens,  each  was  cap- 
tain in  his  department.  The  Mormons  are 
posted  on  Old  Testament  organization.  Their 
whole  system  has  in  it  more  of  Moses  than 
of  Christ. 

Captain  Karns  was  our  Moses  to  lead  the 
traveling*  host  of  modern  Israel  across  the  wil- 
derness (as  then  called)  to  the  promised  land. 
Each  wagon  had  in  it  ten  passengers,  old  and 
young  ;  we  had  provisions,  too,  supposed  to 
last  us  for  three  months.  Added  to  this  we 
were  allowed  one  hundred  pounds  of  luggage 
each.  We  were  expected  to  make  the  journey 
in  three  months,  which  we  did. 

If  the  Mormons  were  as  thoroughly  Christian 
and  righteous  as  they  are  in  human  organiza- 
tion, they  would  be  a  power  on  the  earth  for 
good.  But  they  have  among  them  too  much  of 

(147) 


148      Mormonism  Exposed  a?id  Refuted. 

the  human  and  too  little  of  the  divine ;  too 
much  of  Joseph  Smith  and  too  little  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Jesus  has  said,  "Every  plant  which 
is  not  of  my  Father's  planting*  shall  be  rooted 
up."  Hence,  it  is  but  a  matter  of  time  when 
Mormonism  will  be  rooted  up. 

We  are  now  moving-  along1  nicely  day  after 
day  over  the  beautiful  green  prairies  of  the 
Indian  Territory,  which,  in  the  near  future,  is 
to  be  the  state  of  Kansas.  We  had  expected  to 
find  it  a  desert,  but  the  thick  prairie  grass  is 
from  one  to  two  feet  hig^h.  How  is  this  for 
what  in  the  past  has  been  called  a  desert? 
But  this  beautiful  fertile  country  now  open  for 
settlement  has  no  charms  for  the  Zion-bound 
saints.  No,  we  were  eagerly  pressing1  our  way 
westward  to  what  had  been  represented  to  us 
as  a  far  better  country — a  land  of  saints  and  of 
milk  and  honey,  where  each  would  feel  at  heart 
his  brother's  need  and  live  in  blissful  union 
with  his  fellow,  in  common  with  his  own. 
But  it  is  by  experience  we  learn,  and  I  learned 
by  gfoing-  to  Utah  the  reverse  of  what  I  had 
been  told  by  the  Mormon  missionaries.  It  is 
by  experience  that  faith  is  turned  to  sight. 


From  Kansas  City  to  Salt  Lake.         149 

Since  I  left  Utah  I  have  often  felt  and  said  my 
experience  and  observations  while  there  were 
worth  to  me  all  the  gold  of  California. 

We  had  crossed  the  Kaw  river,  and  while 
traveling*  up  the  bottom  an  Indian  stampeded 
or  scared  the  teams.  He  rode  his  pony  at  full 
speed  on  the  opposite  side  from  the  drivers, 
coming-  from  behind  the  train,  and  as 
he  came  along  at  full  speed  with  his  buck- 
skin clothes  flapping-  in  the  wind,  each  team 
turned  from  him  and  g-ot  out  of  control  of  the 
drivers.  We  thought  at  the  time  we  were  in 
serious  danger.  The  small  children  and  old 
people  were  in  the  wagons.  In  our  own  wag-on 
were  two  little  boys  and  an  old  sister ;  the 
team  got  ahead  of  the  drivers  and  we  felt  sure 
we  should  have  serious  results.  It  was  a 
peculiar  sig-ht  to  see  each  team  start  off  in  a 
run  as  the  Indian  came  opposite  them.  It 
seemed  like  a  wave  the  full  leng-th  of  the  train. 
I  was  alarmed  for  my  little  boy  in  the  wagon. 
Our  team  ran  quite  a  long  distance  and  we, 
the  drivers,  a  long  way  behind.  I  could  but 
think  at  the  time  that  it  was  an  unnecessary 
piece  of  mischief  on  the  part  of  the  Indian ; 


150      Morrnonism  Ex-posed  and  Refuted. 

and  in  the  confusion  and  apparent  danger  I  felt 
stong*  impressions  of  the  carnal  nature  toward 
the  Indian.  But  finding-  no  one  was  hurt  and 
no  damag-e  sustained,  the  carnal  inspiration 
subsided  and  we  took  it  rather  as  a  joke  he  had 
so  successfully  played  on  the  saintly  Mormons 
on  their  journey  to  Zion.  The  Indian  no 
doubt  knew  wh'at  he  could  do  for  us  and  he 
proposed  to  leave  an  impression  on  our  minds 
by  which  he  should  in  after  days  be  remem- 
bered. 

One  nig-ht  as  we  had  just  gx>t  into  camp  we 
heard  at  a  short  distance  the  firing1  of  g-uns. 
We  were  camped  in  the  timber  on  a  creek. 
The  ieport  of  the  g-uns  raised  some  excitement 
in  our  part  of  the  camp,  but  no  one  knew  the 
occasion.  It  soon  became  known  that  there 
were  in  the  camp  a  number  of  slaves  who  had 
run  off  from  their  masters  in  Missouri.  The 
slaves  had  been  hiding-  at  a  distance  from  the 
train  during-  its  traveling-  throug-h  the  day  and 
had  been  coming-  into  camp  at  nig-ht.  Some 
one  or  more  in  the  train  had  been  assisting- 
them  in  the  way  of  relief.  But  their  masters 
and  officers  of  the  state  with  some  of  the  citi- 


From  Kansas  City  to  Salt  Lake.         151 

Zens  were  on  their  track,  and  at  this  place 
undertook  to  and  did  arrest  them,  and  in  the 
attempt  resorted  to  their  revolvers.  Hence, 
the  shooting*  in  the  camp.  The  slaves  were 
soon  put  under  arrest  and  in  safe-keeping-. 
The  slave  owners  then  put  under  arrest  the 
person  in  the  camp  who  had  been  assisting-  the 
slaves  in  their  escape,  and  turned  the  g-uilty 
party  over  to  the  captain  of  our  company  to 
take  his  trial  in  Utah  on  his  arrival.  Thus 
the  masters  and  pursuers  of  the  slaves  returned 
with  their  poor,  urifortunate  human  property 
to  Missouri. 

Shortly  after  this  our  captain  g-ave  us  a  lec- 
ture on  the  necessity  of  respecting1  the  laws  of 
the  country  in  whatever  part  or  state  we  mig-ht 
be.  His  admonition  and  instructions  were  very 
appropriate  and  timely,  for  some  had  thougfht, 
in  what  they  claimed  to  be  a  free  country,  that 
they  were  free  to  do  almost  anything-  they 
mig-ht  wish.  The  captain  in  his  discourse  at 
this  time  broug-ht  up  the  case  of  the 
brother  who  had  been  tampering-  with  the 
slaves,  showing-  how  the  whole  train  mig-ht 
have  been  delayed  and  detained  by  these  state 


152      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

officers  of  Missouri.  But  the  attitude  of  the 
captain  during  his  remarks  assumed  that  of  a 
church  trial  and  in  which  he  pronounced  the 
offending  party  guilty  and  liable  to  punish- 
ment. At  the  close  of  his  remarks  he  asked 
the  camp  what  should  be  done  with  the  guilty 
brother.  No  one  responded.  He  then  asked 
if  he  should  not  be  flogged.  At  once  a  number 
of  voices"  responded  in  the  negative,  saying 
4 'No,  no;  not  that."  I  have  to  confess  here  at 
this  proposition  of  the  captain  my  faulty  judg- 
ment or  baser  nature  or  both  was  raised  at  the 
thought  of  a  brother  being  flogged.  I  had 
been  raised  to  think  that  slavery  and  the  slave 
traffic  were  great  evils.  Hence,  I  raised  my 
voice  very  emphatically  against  flogging  a 
brother,  though  he  might  have  acted  indis- 
creetly. The  old  German  captain  evidently 
felt  very  much  set  back  by  his  disobedient  Zion- 
bound  camp.  He  at  once  exclaimed,  "I  see  re- 
bellion in  the  camp  of  Israel."  The  old  cap- 
tain had  in  his  native  make-up  a  large  per 
cent,  of  the  overbearing.  But  now  he  saw 
in  his  charge,  made  up  of  English  and  Welsh, 
that  he  must  not  venture  too  far  on  what  they 


From  Kansas  City  to  Salt  Lake.         153 

understood  to  be  rig-lit.  Captain  Karns  was  an 
aged  German  with  strong*  tendencies  to  rule  as 
a  Mormon  in  authority  and  wished  to  test  the 
loyalty  of  the  people  he  had  in  charge.  On 
more  mature  reflection,  I  doubted  if  he  intended 
to  flog*  the  indiscreet  brother,  but  he  wished  to 
determine  the  mind  and  disposition  of  his  camp 
toward  himself  as  a  Mormon  priest  in  authority. 
But  in  this  he  learned  as  a  people  we*  were  not 
yet  subjects  at  his  will.  Yes,  he  found  out  at 
this  tinfe,  these  foreig-ners  had  not  left  their 
country  and  come,  to  what  they  expected  as  a 
country  to  be  less  free.  We  were  not  yet  pre- 
pared to  be  flog-g-ed  at  the  dictation  of  a  Mor- 
mon priest  on  our  way  to  Zion.  I  felt  sure  he 
could  have  had  a  stubborn  rebellion  on  his 
hands  had  he  persisted  in  his  suggestion. 

Absolute  obedience  to  the  priesthood  in  Mor- 
monism  is  the  foundation  principle  of  the  church. 
By  it  the  heads  rise  to  intolerance,  and  by  it 
the  masses  of  those  led  sink  to  abject  religious 
servitude.  The  fact  that  it  is  to  be  understood 
that  the  principal  heads  are  the  mouthpieces  of 
God  to  every  one  under  them  g-ives  unlimited 
power  and  control  to  the  hig-hest  order  of  their 


154      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

priesthood.  And  as  Mormonism  is  both  civil 
and  religious  in  its  character,  it  takes  every 
vestige  of  personal  freedom  and  right  from  the 
masses  of  the  people  and  leaves  them  but  abject 
serfs  or  slaves  to  an  unlimited  theocratic  priest- 
hood. Who  could  dare  to  become  disobedient 
to  a  person  like  Joseph  Smith  when  they  be- 
lieve his  word  to  be  the  word  and  will  of  God 
through  him  to  the  people?  Once  established 
in  the  minds  of  the  masses  of  the  Mormons 
that  the  heads  of  the  church  stand  Between 
them  and  their  God,  as  the  mouth-pieces  of  God, 
to  direct  them  in  all  that  relates  to  this  life 
and  that  which  is  to  come,  such  masses  have 
yielded  all  their  rights  and  freedom  and  have 
accorded  to  their  priests  unbounded  despotism. 
Such  is  Mormonism  ;  such  the  leaders  claim; 
such  they  demand ;  and  to  withhold  this  on  the 
part  of  the  led  is  to  become  censured  and  a 
condemned  member  of  the  church  fit  only  for 
the  care  of  the  *  'Destroying  Angels. ' '  The  claim 
of  the  Mormon  prophet,  or  prophets,  to  receive 
direct  revelation  from  God  by  which  the  church 
must  abide  has  been  the  cause  of  more  evil  than 
such  false  priests  will  be  able  to  atone  for, 


From  Kansas  City  to  Salt  Lake.         155 

for  many  ages  to  come.  The  Mountain  Meadow 
massacre  and  all  such  are  traceable  to  this 
claim. 

We  are  now  west  of  Port  Kearney  on  the 
Platte  river.  The  teams  have  got  down  to 
steady  traveling,  and  the  foreigners  as  drivers 
have  learned  driving  and  things  go  nicely  for 
life  on  the  plains.  We  have  four  men  in  our 
wagon  ;  two  can  drive  and  the  other  two  go  out 
to  hunt  as  the  train  moves  onward. 

One  day  while  out  on  the  hunt,  and  standing 
upon  a  bluff  some  four  or  five  miles  from  the 
train  as  it  was  moving  up  the  Platte  valley,  I 
became  entranced  while  looking  at  the  train  as 
it  was  moving  imperceptibly  along.  Such  ro- 
mantic scenes  and  life  have  truly  a  peculiar 
charm  and  inspiration  about  them.  The  wo- 
men and  larger  part  of  the  children  with  some 
of  the  men  were  on  foot  strung-  out  a  mile  or 
two  ahead  of  the  train.  Then  came  thirty-two 
wagons  with  their  white  covers,  parted  only 
by  the  teams,  with  a  few  stragglers  on  foot  be- 
hind the  train.  The  circumstances  and  condi- 
tion of  things  were  blended  with  the  wild,  ro- 
mantic scenery  of  the  country. 


156      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

The  moving-  people  and  the  train  became, 
while  I  was  gazing  meditatively  upon  what 
was  then  before  me,  truly  enchanting*.  I  felt 
wrapped  in  a  peculiar  emotion  and  inspiration. 
I  felt  there  was  a  charm  in  variety  and  chang*e 
like  that  of  the  canvas  of  a  moving  panorama, 
ever  changing-,  ever  new.  I  was  here  reminded 
of  the  ancient  history,  ,of  the  Israelites,  the 
Ishmaelites,  and  many  of  the  nations  in  the  his- 
tory of  remoter  times.  I  felt  then,  I  feel  now, 
there  was  surely  romance  about  life  on  the 
plains,  going  to  the  Mormon  Zion,  much  of 
which  is  truly  enjoyable. 

There  is  a  charm  in  connection  with  varied 
scenes,  circumstances  and  conditions  of  human 
life.  Life  may  be  too  monotonous  and  so  ren- 
der it  unenjoyable.  The  old  adage  has  truth 
in  it  where  it  is  said  "Variety  is  the  spice  of 
life."  Yes,  I  can  but  think  it  is  well  that  hu- 
man life  is  one  of  chang-e  from  the  cradle  to  the 
grave.  A  dead  calm  on  the  ocean  of  human 
life  is  simply  distressing-.  I  have  always  felt 
there  was  an  inspirational  enjoyment  in  most 
of  the  changes  we  undergo.  I  can  hope  that 
chang-e  may  be  endless.  I  may  say  here  to 


From  Kansas  City  to  Salt  Lake.         157 

some  extent  I  enjoyed  life  among  the  Mormons, 
because  it  had  in  it  so  much  variety. 

When  at  a  distance  from  our  train  as  it  was 
passing"  up  the  romantic  and  beautiful  valley  of 
the  Sweetwater  River,  watching  the  train  as  it 
mingled  with  the  delightful  scenery  of  its  sur- 
roundings, meditating  on  the  wonders  of  nature 
as  it  there  appeared  before  me,  the  thought 
occurred  to  my  mind,  Why  all  this  overland 
travel,  and  all  this  gathering  to  Salt  Lake 
valleys?  I  asked  myself  the  question,  What 
are  the  known  facts  which  lead  to  all  this  go- 
ing to  the  Mormon  Zion?  I  was  in  an  inquisi- 
tive mood  at  this  time  and  was  anxious  to  solve 
the  bottom  problem  as  the  real  cause  of  all  this 
Mormon  gathering  into  those  mountains.  I 
again  asked  myself  the  question,  Why  are  the 
Mormons  here  in  these  valleys?  Why  has 
Brigham  Young  led  the  people  out  here?  Is 
there  any  religious  or  divine  necessity  for  such 
a  gathering  to  these  mountains?  Or,  is  it  the 
natural  result  of  a  combination  of  events  and 
circumstances  that  may  have  led  to  it?  And 
in  tracing  back  the  effect  to  its  cause  and  in  re- 
turn tracing  the  cause  to  its  effect,  I  discovered 


158      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

it  was  the  latter — the  natural  result  of  circum- 
stances and  events  which  had  preceded  all  this 
ado  about  gathering-  to  Zion.  The  Mormon 
Zion  as  the  headquarters  of  Mormonism. 

The  first  gathering  place  was  at  Kirtland, 
Ohio.  But  the  nature  of  things  among  them- 
selves and  with  their  non-Mormon  neighbors 
were  so  unsatisfactory  they  had  to  leave  that 
gathering  point.  Smith  next  got  revelations 
that  Independence,  Jackson  county,  Missouri, 
was  the  gathering  place.  But  before  they 
could  fully  establish  themselves  at  this  point 
trouble  among  themselves  and  with  the  Gen- 
tiles— non-Mormons — compelled  them  to  aban- 
don this  point  as  the  divinely  revealed  gather- 
ing place.  They  next  endeavored  to  locate 
themselves  in  two  or  three  places  in  Northern 
Missouri  as  their  gathering  places.  But 
troubles  among  themselves  and  the  non-Mor- 
mons forbade  that.  It  is  next  made  known  to 
Prophet  Smith  that  Nauvoo,  Illinois,  is  to  be 
the  gathering  place  for  the  saints.  At  this 
point  it  would  appear  at  one  time  they  had 
peacefully  and  permanently  established  them- 
selves. But  no,  such  was  the  nature  of  the 


from  Kansas  City  to  Salt  Lake.         159 

church  and  its  influence  upon  its  members  that 
confusion  and  severe  troubles  among-  them- 
selves arose  and  equally  so  with  their  non- 
Mormon  surrounding's.  Smith  was  killed  by 
his  enemies  in  and  out  of  the  church,  and  Nau- 
voo  became  no  longer  a  resting-  place  for  those 
who  were  there,  nor  to  which  others  mig-ht 
g-ather.  The  mantle  of  Prophet  Smith  fell 
upon  Brig-ham  Young-.  Shortly  after  he  was 
compelled  to  abandon  Nauvoo  to  save  himself 
from  arrest.  After  which  he  soug-ht  out  and 
established  his  following-  in  the  valleys  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  These  being-  the  circum- 
stances and  events  of  the  church  which  were 
the  then  cause  of  our  g-athering-  to  Salt  Lake 
valleys. 

Mormonism  being-  of  such  a  nature  in  doc- 
trine and  practice  it  had  proven  itself  unable  to 
exist,  surrounded  by  the  citizens  of  the  free 
and  equal  people's  g-overnment.  Its  prophets 
claiming-  to  be  the  mouth-pieces  of  God  to  them- 
selves and  the  nation  could  not  endure  the 
rig-hts  of  men  among-  men.  Hence,  Brig-ham 
Young-  had  withdrawn  himself  and  his  people 
to  a  place  (then  a  place  of  seclusion)  where  he 


160      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted, 

could  better  carry  out  the  priestly  despotism  of 
the  system  instituted  by  Joseph  Smith,  and 
which  he  purposed  to  perpetuate. 

And  now  as  a  train  we  were  gathering*  to 
Utah  to  become  servants  to  him  and  his  domin- 
ating1 and  intolerant  priesthood.  This  "whole 
scheme  of  gathering1  was  laid  by  Joseph  Smith 
as  part  of  his  earliest  plans  by  which  he  mig'ht 
colonize  the  people,  and  so  migfht  use  them  anoT 
their  resources  more  profitably  to  his  own 
interest,  as  his  whole  system  of  religion  g-oes 
to  prove.  After  looking-  over  this  subject  of 
the  gathering*  of  this  people,  I  could  but  think 
we  had  been  deceived  and  misled  and  were 
entitled  to  pity  rather  than  blame. 

We  had  crossed  the  south  fork  of  the  Platte 
river  and  are  traveling*  on  the  south  side  of  the 
north  fork  and  the  church  train  has  had  a 
stampede  of  their  cattle  in  the  night,  and 
most  of  the  herd  is  not  to  be  found.  We 
are  lying-  over  for  a  few  days  supposing-  we 
may  have  to  supply  them  with  part  of  our 
teams,  and  so  it  turns  out.  We  have  to  g-ive 
up  part  of  our  cattle  to  enable  the  church 
train  to  move.  It  is  now  suggested  that  we 


From  Kansas  City  to  Salt  Lake.         161 

dispose  of  all  bag-gage  we  can  possibly  spare 
in  order  to  lighten  our  loads  for  our  diminished 
teams.  The  team  part  of  the  plains  outfit  is 
very  important.  Our  captain  had  often  ad- 
monished us  to  take  the  best  of  care  of  the 
teams,  saying-  that  our  teams  were  our  salva- 
tion. But  now  our  wagons  must  be  overhauled 
for  luggage  that  might  be  disposed  of  and 
which  the  captain  suggested  should  be  burnt  up. 
Every  one  proposed  to  be  the  judge  of  what 
extra  goods  he*  could  spare,  and  after  a  long 
siege  to  have  the  saints  lighten  up  there  was 
but  little  disposed  of.  The  church  train  not 
finding  many  of  their  cattle,  we  necessarily  had 
to  divide  with  them.  We  are  now  reduced  to 
one  yoke  of  cattle  and  one  of  cows  to  each 
wagon. 

We  moved  on  a  few  days  and  were  obliged  to 
lie  over  again  for  a  few  days  on  account  of 
troubles  ahead  with  Indians  and  a  Danish 
train  of  Mormons.  An  Indian  had  taken  a  cow 
from  one  of  the  Danes  and  refused  to  give  it  up. 
The  tribe  was  strong  and  they  refused  to  give 
the  cow  up.  The  Danish  train  went  forward 

to  Fort  Laramie  some  few  miles  ahead  and  re- 
ii 


162      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

ported  to  the  officers  in  charge,  and  at  once  a 
company  of  soldiers  with  two  pieces  of  artillery 
was  dispatched  to  the  Indian  camp  to  demand 
the  offending-  Indian  ;  but  the  tribe  refused  to 
give  him  up.  The  demand  was  repeated,  but 
the  Indians  would  not  surrender ;  and  without 
further  parleying  the  soldiers  opened  fire  with 
their  two  pieces  of  artillery  on  the  Indian  camp, 
squaws  and  pappooses  all  in  camp.  The  soldiers 
with  their  cannon  and  grape-shot  ranged  too 
high  and  took  no  effect  on  th*e  Indian  camp. 
At  this  the  whole  camp  of  Indian  warriors 
rushed  upon  the  soldiers  and  there  was  but  one 
soldier  that  escaped  death.  That  one  soldier 
reached  the  fort.  There  was  much  excitement 
and  our  camp  narrowly  escaped.  The  Indians 
moved  off  from  the  road  going  into  the  hills, 
and  two  days  after  we  were  able  to  move  on 
without  danger.  In  passing  over  the  battle 
ground  we  saw  the  blood-stained  arrows  and 
bunches  of  the  soldier's  hair  clotted  with  blood 
which  showed  the  savage  work  of  destruction 
perpetrated  by  the  redskins  on  the  unfortunate 
soldiers. 

We  have  passed  Fort  Laramie,  have  crossed 


From  Kansas  City  to  Salt  Lake.         163 

the  north  fork  of  the  Platte  river  and  are  in 
sight  of  the  snow-capped  mountains.  The 
scenery  in  the  mountains  is  truly  grand — in- 
describably so.  This  part  of  the  earth  surely 
shows  the  wonderful  works  of  God,  or  of  na- 
ture or  of  both.  Some  time  in  the  remote  past, 
geologically  considered,  there  must  have  been 
in  this  part  of  the  earth's  crust  some  wonder- 
ful breaking  up.  Mother  earth  at  that  time 
would  not  have  been  a  desirable  place  for 
a  Mormon  Zion,  however  desirable  it  might 
have  been  at  that  time  and  place  for  his  Satanic 
majesty.  These  large  mountains  of  pure 
granite  rock,  with  an  occasional  scrub  cedar 
tree,  that  found  a  crevice  by  which  it  has  been 
able  to  maintain  its  life,  is  all  that  can  be  seen 
of  vegetation  on  many  of  these  massive  moun- 
tains. Our  journey  in  the  mountains  is  truly 
enjoyable  whether  the  gold  bag  is  to  be  found 
at  the  end  of  the  journey  or  not.  I  feel  at  this 
time  I  am  far  from  being*  free  of  doubt  on  that 
part  of  the  question. 

We  have  passed  up  the  Sweetwater  valley 
and  are  near  the  South  Pass,  the  backbone  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains  where  the  waters  divide 


164      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

and  the  streams  diverge  east  toward  the  At- 
lantic ocean  and  west  toward  the  Pacific  ocean. 
Having  crossed  the  ridge  we  are  dropping- 
down  toward  Green  River.  We  are  anxious 
and  often  inquire  of  the  returning-  missionaries 
about  the  real  nature  of  the  country  and  people 
in  the  valleys ;  but  they  are  yet  slow  to  com- 
municate. They  tell  us  we  shall  see  for  our- 
selves by  and  by. 

We  are  now  camped  on  Green  River  and  are 
resting-  for  one  day.  Some  of  our  people  are 
fishing-  in  the  river.  I  tried  it  a  little  while, 
but  did  not  succeed.  Fishing-  to  me  was  always 
too  much  one-sided ;  too  much  like  leading-  the 
horse  to  water.  You  may  do  all  the  leading", 
but  when  it  comes  to  drinking-  the  horse  must 
have  all  his  own  way.  The  same  is  true  of 
fishing-.  You  may  fix  the  fishing-  outfit,  may 
throw  in  the  bait,  but  when  it  comes  to  taking- 
the  bait  the  fish  must  have  its  own  way ;  and 
if  the  fish  do  not  choose  to  bite  you  have  no  fish. 
I  could  not  wait  until  they  would  take  my  bait. 
I  g-ot  no  fish  and  turned  away,  not  disappointed, 
but  in  disg-ust.  Some  people  naturally  cannot 
do  some  things,  and  I  never  could  fish.  I  had 


From  Kansas  City  to  Salt  Lake.         165 

succeeded  along"  the  journey  in  my  hunting* 
efforts.  I  had  killed  a  number  of  jack-rabbits 
and  sag-e-hens  which  made  us  many  nice  meals 
after  we  would  g-et  into  camp  at  nig-ht. 

Our  provisions  had  become  very  low.  Some 
families  had  run  out,  but  we  were  met  with 
supplies  from  Salt  Lake.  We  should  have 
suffered  had  we  not  been  met  with  fresh  sup- 
plies. But  now  we  are  all  rig-ht  and  have 
sufficient  provisions  to  carry  us  throug-h. 

We  have  left  Green  River,  have  passed  Fort 
Bredg-er,  have  crossed  the  big*  and  little  moun- 
tains, have  passed  down  Emigration  Canyon,  at 
the  end  of  which  has  opened  to  our  view  the 
great  Salt  Lake  valley  and  the  longf-looked-for 
Salt  Lake  City,  the  houses  of  which  in  the 
distance  looked  like  larg-e  lig"ht  colored  rocks 
which  mig-ht  have  rolled  from  the  mountain  on 
the  north  of  the  city  and  been  scattered  around 
on  the  bottom  of  the  valley.  But  the  knowing- 
ones  declared  these  were  the  houses  which  con- 
stituted Salt  Lake  City. 

We  now  saw  at  a  short  distance  the  end  of 
our  long-  journey.  The  journey  had  been  long- 
and  was  becoming-  tiresome.  We  had  spent 


166      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

nine  months  from  Liverpool  to  Salt  Lake  City. 
Many  of  the  women  had  walked  most  of  the 
twelve  hundred  miles  .crossing  the  plains.  All 
appeared  pleased  to  reach  the  end ;  and  yet 
many  of  us  had  no  one  of  kin  or  known  friend 
to  welcome  us  on  our  arrival.  For  my  own 
part  I  had  serious  doubts  about  any  desirable 
outcome.  As  I  neared  the  end  of  the  journey, 
and  looking  back  over  what  might  have  passed, 
my  doubts  increased.  What  I  had  seen  and 
known  of  the  past  inspired  but  little  hope  for 
the  future. 

But  with  my  dear  companion  and  little  boy,  I 
was  there  and  resolved  to  make  the  best  of  it. 
I  believed  in  a  strong  and  honest  endeavor  on 
my  own  part,  and  I  felt  to  trust  the  Overruler 
of  all  things  for  the  balance. 

The  valley  lengthways  is  north  and  south. 
Salt  Lake  northwest  of  the  city,  the  south  end 
of  the  lake  nearly  due  west  of  the  city,  though 
several  miles  west.  Near  the  west  side  of  the 
valley  is  the  River  Jorda'n  running  north  into 
Salt  Lake.  The  River  Jordan  is  a  stream  run- 
ning from  Utah  Lake  in  Utah  county  some 
sixty  miles  south  of  Salt  Lake.  The  valleys 


From  Kansas  City  to  Salt  Lake.         167 

and  mountains  which  enclose  them  are  pretty. 
Some  of  the  mountain  tops  are  perpetually 
snow-capped  and  look  majestically  grand. 
There  is  a  jag*  on  the  east  side  of  the  valley 
near  where  Emigration  Canyon  opens  into  the 
valley,  the  mountain  projecting*  west  for  several 
miles,  and  south  of  this  projecting*  part  of  the 
mountain,  and  near  its  west  point  is  the  city 
site.  Gradually  descending-  to  the  south  and 
from  this  mountain  on  its  northern  slope  flows 
a  beautiful  stream  of  pure  water  which  is  made 
to  pass  down  the  principal  streets,  on  either 
side  of  the  street.  The  natural  lay  of  the  city 
is  such,  it  would  almost  be  impossible  to  sur- 
pass. 

As  we  are  drawing*  near  this  beautiful  city  in 
this  beautiful  valley  I  can  but  think  and  feel  it 
is  not  my  abiding  place  ;  this  people  are  not  my 
people  and  their  God  is  not  my  God  ;  and  while 
many  of  the  more  humble  people  viewed  from  a 
natural  standpoint  are  sincere  and  as  g-ood  by 
nature  as  the  average  of  mankind ;  yet  as  a 
people  with  the  religion  of  Joseph  Smith  and 
Brig-ham  Young-,  I  can  but  realize  they  are 
Mormons,  rather  than  Christians.  My  experi- 


168      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

ence  and  observations  so  far  among-  them  have 
led  me  to  this  conclusion.  At  this  time  I  felt 
I  was  not  of  them,  and  could  but  feel  I  had  no 
abiding  place  among-  them. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

EXPERIENCE  AND  OBSERVATION  IN  SALT  LAKE 
CITY. 

ON  a  beautiful  Sunday  we  entered  the  city 
about  noon,  and  camped  on  the  public 
square.  We  who  had  no  friends  to  meet  or 
greet  us,  consequently  no  homes  to  offer  us,  had 
the  use  of  our  wagons  and  tents  to  remain  in 
until  we  could  find  other  places  or  homes.  To 
us,  all  was  strange  and  new,  and  we  scarcely 
knew  which  way  to  turn  or  which  way  to  go. 
Many  of  our  company  had  friends  and  relatives 
to  meet  them.  Such  met  with  happy  recep- 
tions and  greetings.  They  were  escorted  cheer- 
fully away,  and  that  was  the  last  of  them  to  us. 
We  never  saw  them  again.  Such  had  been  our 
traveling  companions  for  nine  months,  by  sea 
and  by  land.  Under  such  circumstances  we 
had  formed  peculiar  attachments,  but  now  they 
are  all  in  the  past,  to  be  renewed  no  more.  The 
people  of  the  city  appeared  but  little  excited  or 
concerned  about  the  arrival  of  our  train.  But 

(169) 


170      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

few  paid  any  attention%to  us.  I  felt  our  recep- 
tion was  cool.  We  remained  in  our  tent  and 
wagon  near  two  weeks,  looking  for  work.  We 
were  strangers  in  a  strange  land,  among 
strange  people.  We  had  no  experience  in  such 
an  order  of  things,. and  scarcely  knew  what  do. 
There  was  no  one  to  offer  counsel  or  advice. 
There  was  no  church  arrangement  to  direct  or 
advise  in  any  way.  I  felt  surely  this  people,  as 
such,  has  not  learned  that  Christian  lesson, 
4 'Be  not  forgetful  to  entertain  strangers."  I 
felt,  if  this  is  the  spirit  of  the  people  in  Zion 
toward  strangers,  surely  they  must  be  indiffer- 
ent and  negligent  as  a  people.  There  are  few 
associations  but  what  have  respect  for  stran- 
gers of  their  own  order.  It  was  not  so  at  that 
time  with  the  Mormons  in  Salt  Lake  City. 
Prom  some  cause  they  were  very  indifferent  to- 
ward their  brothers  and  sisters,  offering  them 
no  advice  or  direction  as  strangers  in  a  strange 
country.  Had  they  as  a  people,  here  at  their 
headquarters,  been  interested  in  the  new  ar- 
rivals of  people  from  the  old  countries,  they 
could  and  would  have  had  a  committee,  at  least, 
to  offer  us  advice  as  strangers  in  their  midst. 


Experience  in  Salt  Lake  City.  171 

But  no ;  their  religion  had  not  affected  their 
hearts  in  that  direction.  The  leaders  of  the 
church  had  used  the  necessary  means  to  bring 
us  here,  but  that  done,  it  appeared  now  as 
though  it  was  "every  one  for  himself,  and  the 
devil  take  the  hindmost."  The  masses  of  the 
strangers  did  not  wish  to  be  parasites,  living 
on  the  gifts  of  others.  No,  far  from  it ;  yet 
the  information  from  an  advisory  committee 
would  have  been  a  great  relief  under  such  a 
condition  of  things  to  strangers.  It  was  diffi- 
cult in  the  city  to  find  employment.  We  had 
spent  all  our  surplus  funds  on  the  journey,  for 
we  needed  many  things  on  the  way  which  were 
not  furnished  by  the  company.  At  this  time 
our  funds  were  totally  exhausted.  We  were 
penniless.  We  had  mail  in  the  post-office  with 
seventy-five  cents  due  on  it — three  letters  from 
our  friends  in  England — twenty-four  cents  each 
at  that  time — at  this  time  but  five  cents  eiich. 
But,  for  the  time  being*,  we  were  unable  to  pro- 
cure our  much-wanted  letters.  We  would 
g-ladly  have  worked  for  any  one,  at  any  kind  of 
work,  to  have  received  cash  to  procure  our  let- 
ters from  our  home — our  parents — in  England. 


172      Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

But  no ;  no  one  had  work  needed  to  be  done, 
and  much  less  pay  cash  for  work.  I  soon  found 
it  was  almost  a  transgression  to  ask  cash  for 
work.  The  thing-  called  cash  for  labor-  in  Salt 
Lake  City  at  that  time  appeared  to  be  a  total 
strang-er.  We  were  more  than  anxious  to  hear 
from  our  friends  back  in  our  native  land ;  but 
this  we  could  not  do  for  want  of  a  little  cash— 
of  seventy-two  cents.  I  had  never  been  accus- 
tomed to  ask  favors,  even  of  friends,  and  I  could 
not  think  of  asking1  a  stranger  for  a  favor,  if 
even  I  could  have  found  one  with  that  amount 
of  cash  on  hand.  I  felt  at  this  time  Mormon- 
ism  had  g-ot  me  into  a  close  place.  I  realized 
now  that  the  Mormons  and  their  religion  were 
telling*  on  me  pretty  heavy.  I  had  never  been 
at  a  loss  for  funds  since  a  small  boy,  and  I  was 
now  feeling-  thing's  pretty  severely.  I  was 
truly  at  this  time  learning-  the  results  of  Mor- 
monism  in  the  personal,  experimental  sense  ;  for 
I  was  now  penniless  among-  strang-ers,  could 
find  no  employment,  my  family  living*  in  a  tent 
on  the  public  square  of  the  city,  winter  upon 
us,  and  without  a  shadow  of  anything-  better 
before  us.  It  looked  at  this  time  as  thoug-h  I 


Experience  in  Salt  Lake  City.  173 

might  be  driven  to  call  for  relief.  My  child 
was  sick,  my  wife's  health  poor,  and,  all  told, 
I  was  about  this  time  feeling-  blue.  I  asked 
myself  the  question,  Is  this  the  Zion  of  God's 
latter-day  work  ?  Is  this  the  land*  and  place  of 
plenty  and  of  brotherly  love?  Is  this  the  fore- 
taste of  the  Mormon  approaching-  millennium? 
About  this  time  I  felt  like  signing',  not  singdngf, 
"My  native  land,  I  love  thee."  I  was  able 
now  to  compare  the  past  of  my  life  in  Engfland 
with  the  present  in  S£ilt  L/ake,  among-  the 
would-be  saints  of  the  most  hig-h  God.  I  be- 
g-an  now  to  feel  that  I  had  made  a  serious  mis- 
step in  my  life  by  joining-  the  Mormon  relig-ion. 
I  could  hope  for  something-  better  ahead,  but  I 
could  not  see  it  now.  It  looked  tome  as  thoug-h 
providence,  or  fate,  or  the  Evil  One,  or  all  had 
combined  to  bring-  about  this  state  of  thing's. 
As  a  husband  and  father,  with  a  family  under 
my  chargfe,  I  have  never  before  or  since  found 
myself  in  such  a  financial  strait.  My  dear 
companion  realized  I  was  "passing-  under  the 
rod"  of  financial  affliction.  She  had  opposed 
the  Utah  part  of  coming-  to  America,  but  she 
uttered  not  the  least  complaint.  I  knew  then, 


174      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

I  know  now,  how  the  faithful  woman  must 
have  felt.  She  knew  she  had  advised  me 
ag-ainst  going-  to  Salt  Lake,  and  my  own  mis- 
take at  this  time  was  having-  its  effect  upon 
her  ;  but  our  steps  could  not  be  retraced  at  this 
time.  There  was  no  remedy  now. 

We  were  now  in  "the  Latter-day  Saints' 
Zion,"  and  we  must  "fig-ht  it  out  on  this  line." 
We  could  not  blame  the  masses  of  the  people 
here  for  their  lack  of  sympathy  toward  us. 
If  in  any  way  we  should  refer  to  their  Zion  as 
a  hard  place  for  stiangfers  to  make  their  way 
financially,  they  would  refer  us  to  the  time 
when  they  first  came  to  this  country  and  how 
hard  they  had  to  struggle  to  make  their  way 
and  how  much  they  had  suffered  in  a  more  early 
day.  In  this  they  were  rig-ht.  They,  many  of 
them,  at  this  time  had  g-athered  a  few  of  the 
comforts  of  life  around  them.  They  felt  by  a 
hard  struggle  they  had  in  part  succeeded,  and 
that  they  had  learned  by  the  thing's  they  had 
suffered,  and  it  was  but  a  small  matter  for  us 
to  do  the  same.  They  could  now  afford  to  say 
to  us,  as  the  heads  of  the  church  had  said  to 
them  in  th?  past:  "It  is  throug-h  much  tribu- 


Experience  in  Salt  Lake  City.  175 

lation  that  we  shall  enter  the  kingdom."  On 
this  line  they  could  very  conscientiously  be  in- 
different to  our  condition.  We  felt  this  was  all 
well  enoug-h  in  its  place,  but  it  had  no  place  in 
relieving'  our  then  needy  condition,  and  all  we 
would  ask  was,  Give  us  a  little  work.  Some 
of  these  people  appeared  to  think  because  they 
had  come  in  an  early  day,  had  succeeded  in 
building*  up  a  few  towns,  and  had  made  a  few 
farms,  that  any  one  coming"  later,  could  live  on 
the  atmosphere  and  the  sig^ht  of  their  towns 
and  farms.  All  the  people  who  went  there 
first  had  something'  to  land  there  with.  The 
poor  people  at  that  time  could  not  gr>.  But 
the  Mormons,  as  a  people,  from  the  first  had 
seen  and  endured  much  adversity.  They  had 
been  driven  from  Kirtland,  from  Missouri, 
and  from  Illinois.  They  had  suffered  enough 
to  make  them  indifferent  toward  the  necessities 
of  their  brethren  and  sisters  in  Mormonism, 
especially  if  they  wished  an  excuse  of  such  a 
kind.  But  there  were  a  few  even  among*  the 
Mormons  in  spite  of  their  peculiar  religion  and 
suffering's  whose  more  noble  nature  rose  above 
their  surrounding's,  and  who  did  not  look  upon 


176      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

their  own  suffering-  in  their  past  lives  as  a  justi- 
fying- excuse  for  withholding-  sympathy  from 
strang'ers  in  their  immediate  necessity. 

Mormonism  has  from  its  beg-inning-  entailed 
untold  suffering-  upon  its  followers,  the  head 
leaders  not  excepted.  Such  is  the  nature  of 
the  system  and  the  make-up  of  its  founder 
that  its  natural  working's  bring-  trouble  and 
confusion  upon  its  own  people.  Their  con- 
fusion and  unhappy  state  of  thing's  at  Kirtland, 
Ohio,  at  Independence  and  many  other  parts  of 
Missouri,  and  their  multiplied  confusion  and 
aggravated  troubles  at  Nauvoo,  Illinois,  where 
the  prophet  and  his  brother  lost  their  lives  and 
when  and  where  the  whole  church  was  torn 
to  pieces  and  finally  banished  from  the  state, 
show  the  nature  and  unhappy  working's  of  the 
evil  elements  of  and  in  the  church ;  and  its  his- 
tory in  all  its  details  from  first  to  last  is  of  this 
confused,  turbulent  character.  The  early 
troubles  and  suffering's  of  the  church  was  no 
consolation  to  us  who  were  at  this  time  suffer- 
ing- our  own  part  of  the  evil,  unhappy  system. 
The  system  had  ever  borne  bitter  fruit,  and  we, 
too,  were  now  partaking-  of  it.  "The  bud"  of 


Experience  in  Salt  Lake  City.  177 

our  experience  in  Mormonism  was  having*  "a 
bitter  taste,"  and  "the  flower"  was  still  more 
bitter.  It  is  all  summed  up  in  this — an  evil 
system  of  religion  and  its  evil  results  which 
naturally  follow. 

We  had  landed  in  what  the  Saints  were 
pleased  to  call  their  Zion  ;  but  we  soon  realized 
it  offered  no  blessing's  to  us,  natural  or  spiritual, 
present  or  prospective.  Distance  might  have 
lent  enchantment,  but  there  was  no  enchant- 
ment now.  Our  reflections  and  meditations 
were  now  turned  backward  to  the  place  of  our 
nativity  where  life  to  us  had  been  enjoyable. 

The  semi-annual  conference  of  the  church 
was  now  in  session  in  the  city,  and  we  listened 
for  the  first  time  to  some  of  their  most  noted 
public  speakers  and  authors.  Their  subjects 
and  efforts  all  related  to 'themselves  and  their 
peculiar  system  of  religion  as  the  only  heaven- 
acknowledged  system  of  religion  extant.  My 
whole  experience  so  far  had  proven  to  the  con- 
trary, and  they  gave  no  additional  proof  of  the 
divinity  of  their  claims  at  this  conference. 
To  myself  it  was  just  talk,  mere  say  so,  simple 

pretense  in  the  absence  of  any  conclusive  proof. 
12 


178      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

I  felt  I  was  not  in  fellowship  with  them.  I 
was  unable  to  worship  confederately  with  them. 
I  realized  that  their  religious  exercises  and  all 
that  pertained  to  the  system  as  such  were  an- 
other gospel  to  that  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
apostles.  I  could  realize  none  of  the  divine 
spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  in  their  efforts.  All  was 
turned  on  themselves,  their  system,  what  should 
be  done  for  the  church,  and  what  the  church 
proposed  to  do  for  them.  Jesus  Christ  as 
"the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life,"  was  left 
out.  They  were  not  engaged  in  bringing  sin- 
ners to  God  by  means  of  his  Son.  Their  efforts 
were  not  to  save  sinners  from  their  sins,  so 
God  might  pardon  them.  No,  their  efforts 
were  to  convert  the  world  to  their  own  peculiar 
system  of  religion,  that  in  return  they  might 
become  feeders  to  the  church.  *They  were  ex- 
pecting to  survive  all  other  religions  and  be- 
come great  and  renowned  in  the  ages  to  come 
and  when  other  systems  had  faded  away. 
They  were  not  trying  to  bring  poor  sinners  to 
Jesus  Christ  for  pardon  and  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  but  were  deceiving  and  being 
deceived  by  leading  people  to  themselves  and 


Experience  in  Salt  Lake  City.  179 

their  system.  It  was  Mormonism  acting*  and 
re-acting*  upon  and  for  itself,  and  though  I  was 
among*  them  and  formally  of  them,  yet  I  felt  I 
was  truly  of  another  spirit. 

At  this  conference  I  heard  Brig*ham  Young* 
speak  on  the  nature  of  God.  He  undertook  to 
say  that  Adam  was  the  true  and  real  God. 
Just  how  he  found  that  much  out  he  never  said. 
But  it  was  Brig*ham  Young*,  the  then  prophet 
of  Adam,  God,  the  mouthpiece  of  Adam,  or 
God,  and  of  course  the  people  were  prepared  to 
take  and  believe  whatever  he  mig*ht  hand  out 
to  them.  If  Brig-ham  was  rig*ht  in  his  claims 
and  views  it  mig*ht  be  well  to  accept  them,  but 
for  one  I  did  not  believe  or  accept  them  as  true. 
He  said  the  story  of  Adam  and  Eve  in  the 
Garden  of  Eden  was  the  baby  story  g*iven  to 
the  world,  as  we  tell  baby  stories  to  our  little 
children  when  they  ask  where  their  little 
brother  or  sister  came  from,  and  the  parent 
says  from  under  the  apple-tree.  The  writer 
at  the  time  would  have  enjoyed  an  opportunity 
to  have  asked  Brig*ham's  proof  for  his  state- 
ments ;  but  that,  at  that  time  in  Utah,  would 
have  been  a  sufficient  cause  for  Danite  atten- 


180      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

tion ;  for  it  was  publicly  taught  then  that  the 
people  had  no  right  to  a  way  and  will  of  their 
own,  but  were  told  to  submit  without  question 
to  the  highest  priesthood.  Brigham  at  this 
time  on  the  subject  of  the  nature  of  God  said 
Adam  had  passed  through  one  earthly  proba- 
tion something  like  the  one  in  which  we  now 
are,  and  he  with  a  number  of  his  wives  in  such 
state  had  become  celestialized,  and  with  one  of 
these  celestialized  wives  he  came  upon  the 
earth  as  soon  as  it  was  in  a  habitable  condition, 
and  that  he  was  in  that  sense  the  true  and  real 
author  of  the  human  family.  He  said  the  rib 
story  as  found  in  the  Bible  was  but  our  first 
parents'  baby  story  to  their  offspring ;  and 
such  is  but  a  fair  specimen  of  Mormon  specula- 
tion as  they  view  the  Bible. 

The  system  of  the  Utah  branch  of  Mormonism 
is  made  up  of  the  natural  thoughts  and  inclina- 
tions of  Joseph  Smith,  Sidney  Rigdon,  and 
capsheafed  by  Brigham  Young,  with  a  small 
portion  of  Bible  called  for  if  ever  needed.  The 
capsheaf  of  the  re-organised  church,  sometimes 
called  the  young  Josephites,  is  somewhat  differ- 
ent from  that  of  Brigham's ;  but  the  founda- 


Experience  in  Salt  Lake  City.  181 

tion  of  the  Mormon  system  by  Joseph  Smith, 
Jr.,  and  Sidney  Rig'don  is  absolutely  the 
same. 

One  day  while  camped  on  the  public  square  a 
brother  made  us  a  present  of  a  Yankee  pump- 
kin. We  had  never  seen  one  before.  To  us  it 
looked  rich  and  we  supposed  probably  it  wras  of 
the  nature  of  rich  fruit.  We  asked  the  kind 
brother  what  use  we  should  make  of  -it.  He  said 
we  might  slice  it  up  and  bake  it,  or  we  might 
make  it  into  pies.  We  felt  good  over  our  pres- 
ent and  thought  we  were  surely  going*  to  have 
a  treat.  In  undertaking  to  cut  open  the  pump- 
kin we  found  we  were  very  much  mistaken  in 
the  outward  appearance  and  its  rich  quality, 
We  baked  a  little,  but  we  were  not  sufficiently 
Yankeefied  to  eat  Yankee  pumpkin.  We  tried 
our  best  to  eat  it,  but  we  could'  not.  So  we 
laid  it  aside  thinking  we  were  as  much  mistaken 
and  disappointed  as  we  had  been  in  the  Mor- 
mons and  the  Mormon  Zion.  The  >  two  had 
proved  alike  to  us,  for  having  tried  them  both 
we  could  not  make  any  profitable  use  of  either. 
In  all  countries  people  have  their  own  peculiar 
customs  and  ways,  and  in  this  we  ourselves 


182      Mormonism  Exposed  and' Refuted. 

were  at  fault.  We  had  not  learned  to  make  an 
enjoyable  use  of  Yankee  pumpkins.  We  had 
not  the  necessary  ingredients  to  mix  up  with  it ; 
hence  our  failure.  We  learned  afterwards  when 
we  became  more  Americanized  that  pumpkins 
with  a  great  many  other  nice  accompaniments 
combined,  make  a  very  nice  dish  or  pie,  and 
finally  we  are  able  to  say  much  more  for  the 
American  pumpkin  than  we  have  ever  been  able 
to  say  for  American  Mormonism  ;  for  during*  our 
thirty-eight  years  in  Salt  Lake  and  Kansas  we 
have  never  been  able  to  find  sufficient  ingredients 
inside  or  outside  of  the  Bible  to  mix  up  with  the 
Mormon  relig-ion  to  make  it  desirable  in  this  life 
or  profitable  and  safe  for  the  life  to  come. 

But  conference  is  over  and  my  friend  and 
brother,  W.  W.,  and  myself  must  rustle  for  em- 
ployment or  starve.  We  now  feel  in  dead 
earnest.  My  three  letters  are  yet  in  the  post- 
office  for  lack  of  cash.  We  finally  g-et  employ- 
ment from  Brig-ham  Young-.  Mr.  Wooley, 
Brig-ham's  foreman,  eng-ag-ed  us.  I  am  g-iven 
an  ax  and  have  to  chop  wood  for  a  number  of 
Brig-ham's  families.  Many  of  them  live  in  log- 
houses  a  short  distance  from  his  main  residence. 


Experience  in  Salt  Lake  City.  183 

For  an  Englishman  to  chop  wood  was  almost 
equal  to  a  prodigal  Jew  having  to  feed  swine. 
I  had  not  been  accustomed  to  use  an  ax,  and 
while  I  was  young*  and  strong  I  was  by  no 
means  apt  with  an  ax.  I  had  been  a  traveler 
for  nine  months,  not  used  to  work  of  any  kind 
save  walking ;  but  as  we  sometimes  say  ' '  it 
was  a  ground-hog  case"  now.  I  soon  had 
blistered  hands  and  think  I  drew  the  attention 
of  some  of  those  wives  of  Brigham's,  I  suppose 
by  my  pure  awkwardness  as  a  wood-chopper. 
They  could  tell  by  my  uniform  clothes  that  I 
was  but  recently  from  England.  I  suppose 
many  of  those  wives  of  Brigham's  could  have 
given  me  lessons  on  chopping  wood.  I  realized 
I  was  noticed  by  them  ;  but  they  were  very 
thoughtful  and  kind.  No  doubt  they  saw  (as 
Americans  say)  ' '  I  was  not  raised  with  an  ax 
in  my  hand."  Some  of  these  good  women 
would  hand  me  a  little  lunch,  something  nice, 
and  be  sure,  I  appreciated  it.  I  could  but  think 
dear  good  souls,  you  are  thoughtful  and  kind 
if  you  are  part  of  a  polygamic  family.  During 
this  time  I  was  carefully  noting  the  peculiar 
habits  and  condition  of  Brigham's  numerous 


184      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

wives.  They  all  appeared  to  be  very  indus- 
trious ;  they  were  working1  on  yarn  and  cloth 
coloring-  for  carpets,  etc.  My  work  to  me  was 
new  and  hard,  but  necessity  compelled  me  to 
endure  it  for  awhile  ;  but,  oh  my  !  it  was  hard. 
I  supposed  I  should  receive  some  little  cash  for 
my  work.  I  was  to  have  one  dollar  and  fifty 
cents  per  day.  The  wag-es  were  g-ood  enoug-h, 
but  I  found  the  work  to  be  very  hard  and  the 
pay  equally  so.  The  foreman  proposed  to  pay 
us  out  of  the  public  tithing-  office,  and  we  could 
scarcely  g-et  anything-  we  needed  or  could  use  out 
of  the  tithing-  house.  I  could  but  think  the 
officers  and  their  favorites  carried  off  all  the 
bread  that  was  buttered,  and  the  poor  toilers 
—the  mudsills — could  not  g*et  bread.  I  soon 
found  out  it  would  not  do  for  me  to  be  in  the 
hands  of  these  men ;  that  I  should  be  but  a 
white  slave  and  starve  while  I  was  serving-  as 
such.  It  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  I  g-ot 
from  the  foreman  seventy-five  cents  in  cash  by 
which  to  procure  my  letters.  I  had  to  insist  at 
last  that  he  must  g"ive  me  that  amount  in  cash 
for  that  purpose,  or  I  would  gx>  and  see  what  I 
could  do  with  Brig-ham.  Seeing-  my  English 


.Experience  in  Salt  Lake  Citv.  185 

was  getting*  up  high  he  yielded  and  gave  me 
that  amount  in  cash,  and  most  of  the  balance  I 
never  could  and  never  did  collect.  My  wife 
and  child  were  both  sick  and  needed  many 
things  I  was  not  able  to  procure.  We  could 
obtain  little  or  nothing  for  my  work  out  of  the 
store-house  that  we  could  possibly  use,  and  the 
account  in  my  favor  must  stand  there  yet. 

I  quit  working  for  the  prophet,  got  my  let- 
ters and  with  a  sad  heart  read  them  over. 
While  everything  was  well  with  my  friends 
back  in  England  I  should  have  felt  cheerful 
and  happy.  But,  no ;  my  condition  then  and 
there  was  unfavorable.  My  mood  or  state  of 
mind  would  not  admit  of  my  being  cheerful  or 
happy.  The  letters  from  my  family — father, 
mother,  and  other  loved  ones  only  served  as  a 
contrast  between  my  happy  prosperous  condi- 
tion in  the  past  and  my  then  wretched,  strait- 
ened condition  in  the  Mormon  Zion.  I  now 
realized  to  the  full  extent  my  mistake  or  mis- 
fortune (viewed  from  a  financial  standpoint)  in 
joining  the  Mormon  church.  As  in  the 
case  of  Job  I  felt  Satan  had  been  permitted  to 
try  and  test  me.  Yet  I  was  confident  God  in 


186      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

his  mercy  and  at  his  own  good  time  would  see 
me  out  and  deliver  me  ;  but  just  then  it  looked 
like  hoping1  against  hope.  It  looked  now  like 
Joseph  in  the  pit  and  his  brethren  gone  leaving 
him  to  perish. 

I  was  now  in  the  high  school  of  Mormonism 
studying  and  working  out  hard  problems.  It 
was  not  joyous  but  grievous  at  the  time ;  "but 
afterwards  yielded  the  fruits  of  righteousness. " 
Mankind  learns  the  most  important  lessons  and 
receives  the  most  profitable  experience  under 
the  most  severe  pressure  and  trying  circum- 
stances connected  with  their  life.  It  appeared 
at  this  time  I  was  like  Job — bereft  of  what 
property  I  might  have  had,  though  I  was  not 
tempted  by  a  wife  to  "curse  God  and  die." 
Sometimes  it  would  almost  appear  as  though 
the  fiery  furnace  and  the  lions'  den  had  both 
got  into  one.  But  God  never  did  and  never 
will  allow  the  faithful  to  be  tempted  above  that 
which  they  are  able  to  bear ;  but  with  all  their 
temptations  will  make  for  them  a  way  of 
escape. 

These  and  such  encouraging  promises  were 
and  ever  have  been  sources  of  comfort,  and 


Experience  in  Salt  Lake  City.  187 

have  acted  as  modifiers  of  my  severest  trials 
through  life.  The  gold  having  passed  through 
the  fire  is  purified.  So  with  God's  people 
passing  through  this  world  in  its  fallen  state 
are  purified  and  made  fit,  meet,  for  the  Mas- 
ter's kingdom.  We  may  see  the  fruits  of  our 
trials  in  Christian  life  when  we  have  "passed 
beyond  the  vale,"  and  "  the  mists  have  cleared 
away." 

Brigham's  wives  lived  in  separate  houses  or 
apartments  of  the  same  house  in  some  cases. 
They  were  neat,  tidy  and  clean.  They  were 
very  reserved,  never  appeared  to  wish  to  enter 
into  conversation  with  me.  These  log  cabins 
were  not  Brigham's  headquarters,  but  near  it. 
The  Lyon  house  was  not  then  built.  I  never 
wish  to  forget  the  sympathetic,  thoughtful 
kindness  of  some  of  these  Mormon  polygamic 
sisters.  It  is  an  eternal,  infallible  truth  and 
fact  uttered  by  St.  Paul:  "Charity  never 
faileth."  How  pure,  unadulterated  sympathy 
and  kindness  will  tell  on  the  heart  of  our  fel- 
lows when  once  manifested.  These  modest 
women  would  invite  me  to  take  their  kindly 
offered  lunch  and  not  a  word  more  was  spoken. 


188      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

I  was  unable  to  account  for  their  modest  re- 
serve. Such  tokens  of  kindness  have  never 
faded  from  my  mind  and  heart.  I  love  to  think 
of  their  pure  goodness ;  and  in  the  great  and 
glorious  gathering-  of  the  people  of  God  in  his 
final  king'dom,  I  hope  to  honor  such  acts  of 
sympathy  and  kindness  on  the  part  of  these 
gfood  sisters  when  Mormonism  has  spent  its 
force  and  is  no  more,  but  Christ  shall  be  all 
and  in  all. 

I  felt  at  this  time  as  thoug-h  I  had  made  a 
sad  mistake  in  casting"  my  lot  with  this  poor, 
poverty-stricken  people  in  their  would-be  Zion. 
But  my  mistake  and  its  unhappy  consequences 
did  not  end  with  myself  alone  ;  I  had  brought 
the  same  upon  my  family.  It  has  always  been 
a  source  of  regret  to  me  when  I  think  that  I 
not  only  broug-ht  myself  into  adverse  circum- 
stances, but  had  entailed  the  same  upon  my 
wife ;  yes,  dear,  faithful  woman  who  endured 
this  conflict  with  false  religion  and  the  most 
straitened  circumstances  without  ever  casting- 
my  mistake  as  a  reproach  in  my  face. 

We  were  now  in  the  den  of  lions.  We  dared 
not  to  resist.  The  lion's  paw  was  upon  us, 


Experience  in  Salt  Lake  City.  189 

and  we  from  necessity  must  keep  still.  Our 
experience  at  that  time  was  more  profitable  in 
its  final  results  than  we  then  were  able  to 
realize.  Had  we  had  faith  in  the  Mormon 
religious  system  we  could  have  endured  our 
surrounding's — could  have  passed  through  them 
all  right ;  but  to  contend  without  faith  or  hope 
in  any  final  outcome  was  working  against  wind 
and  tide.  Having  no  confidence  in  the  Mormon 
religion,  and  being  destitute  of  home  and  funds, 
I  was  driven  closer  to  God.  I  felt  "the  Lord 
is  my  shepherd  and  I  shall  not  want."  I  had 
confidence  in  the  God  that  had  so  wonderfully 
blessed  me  in  my  conversion  and  whom  I  was 
willing  to  trust  to  the  end  of  life. 

My  religion  now  became  more  personal.  I 
had  nothing  but  God  to  look  to ;  in  this  I  be- 
came more  devout.  Had  he  not  given  me  un- 
questionable personal  proof  of  his  power  and 
love  in  my  own  soul ;  had  I  been  a  total 
stranger  to  the  Spirit  .of  God  and  my  accept- 
ance with  him ;  had  I  not  proven  God's  power 
to  save  in  the  personal  sense,  I  know  not  what 
would  have  been  my  final  outcome  among  this 
people.  But  the  voice  of  the  New  Testament 


190      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

as  a  book,  and  the  voice  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God  shed  abroad  in  the  heart  in  the  personal 
sense,  enabled  me  to  discern  between  the  spirit 
of  Mormonism  and  that  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
apostles.  Jesus  had  said,  "  My  sheep  hear  my 
voice  and  I  know  them  and  they  follow  me  ;  and 
I  give  unto  them  eternal  life,  and  they  shall 
never  perish,  neither  shall  any  man  pluck  them 
out  of  my  hand ;  .  .  .  and  no  man*  is  able  to 
pluck  them  out  of  my  Father's  hand." — John  x: 
27-29.  God's  people  are  "  kept  by  the  power  of 
God  through  faith  unto  salvation. ' '  —1  Peter  i:  5. 
Had  I  not  received  this  spiritual  manifestation 
and  spiritual  personal  knowledge  of  God  for 
myself,  no  doubt  I  should  have  drifted  with 
them  as  a  people,  and  might  years  ago  (like 
John  D.  Lee)  have  become  one  of  Brigham's  fa- 
natical dupes  and  suffered  death  by  their  deceiv- 
ing and  misleadings.  But  I  felt  sure  God  was 
with  me  in  all  this  experience  and  observation, 
and  in  his  own  good  time  I  should  come  out  all 
right  and  Was  willing  to  wait  and  do  his  pleasure. 
I  dreamt  not  then  that  thirty-eight  years 
after  I  should  write  them  up  and  publish 
them  to  the  world  as  a  false  religious  institu- 


Experience  in  Salt  Lake  City.  191 

tion,  demonstrated  to  myself  by  my  own  per- 
sonal experience  among-  them.  Truly,  "God 
moves  in  a  mysterious  way  his  wonders  to  per- 
form." Often  when  God's  people  think  them- 
selves beclouded  by  a  frowning-  providence, 
"He  hides  a  smiling-  face." 

I  discontinued  working*  for  Brig-ham,  think- 
ing- Salt  Lake  City  was  not  best  for  my  locat- 
ing-. I  now  left  my  wife  and  child  in  the 
wag-on  and  purposed  to  g-o  out  into  the  more 
country  part  of  the  valley.  My  wife  was  to 
collect  what  was  due  me  from  the  tithing-  office. 
Bishop  Hunter,  who  manag-ed  the  office  at  that 
time,  never  had  in  stock  what  she  needed  at  the 
time  ;  and  failing-  to  collect  my  dues  for  labor 
performed  for  Brig-ham,  a  balance  ever  since 
has  been  due  me. 


CHAPTER  X. 

EXPERIENCE  IN  THE  COUNTRY — LOCATING    IN 
PAYSON. 

WITH  my  friend  and  brother,  W.  W.,  we 
started  out  on  foot,  for  we  had  no 
other  means  of  travel — our  funds  were  totally 
exhausted.  We  were  not  at  this  time  afraid 
of  robbers  or  pick-pockets,  for  we  had  not  a 
cent  between  us.  Had  we  been  attacked  by 
robbers  at  this  time,  they  would  have  to  be 
content  with  promises,  to  be  collected  in  the 
future.  We  started  out  south,  and  traveled 
all  day  without  dinner.  We  were  now  feeling- 
these  were  blue,  trying*  times.  We  reached  a 
locality  .  called  Cottonwood.  We  were  now 
feeling-  our  real  condition — tramps  of  the  first 
water.  We  were  totally  dependent  upon  the 
hospitality  of  those  we  mig-ht  meet.  We  were 
without  friends,  without  home,  without  money, 
without  work,  with  wife  and  child  on  the  pub- 
lic square  of  the  city  in  a  covered  wag-on,  with- 
out sympathy  from  those  around  her.  Both 
(192) 


Locating-  in  Pay  son.  193 

mother  and  child  were  sick  when  I  left  them, 
with  no  other  means  of  subsistence  than  by 
trading  off  such  articles  as  we  might  be  able 
to  spare,  which  we  had  brought  with  us  from 
England.  But  the  Mormons  at  this  time 
were  a  people  trained  to  hardships.  Many 
of  them  had  lost  all  sympathy  with  others 
by  contending  with  trials  of  their  own  ;  and 
who  could  blame  them  ?  Our  circumstances 
to  a  great  extent  are  our  moulding.  These 
people,  trained  to  endure  hardships,  and  to  con- 
tend with  adversity,  could  only  be  reached  by 
my  wife  trading  off  to  them  some  part  of  the  ar- 
ticles we  had  brought  from  England ;  and  we 
had  not  been  used  to  barter  or  trading  one  arti- 
'cle  for  another  in  our  native  country.  It  was 
cash  for  work,  promptly,  and  cash  for  every- 
thing ;  in  all  our  dealings  cash  was  paid.  But 
we  soon  found  out  that  things  were  different  in 
the  Mormon  Zion.  We  had  the  art  of  barter 
or  trading  to  learn,  and  those  saintly  sisters, 
many  of  them,  soon  taught  my  wife  by  the 
things  they  caused  her  to  suffer.  She  quickly 
found  out  that  her  stock  in  trade  would  soon 
be  exhausted,  and  she  was  going  to  have  but 
13 


194      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

little  in  return.  She  had  to  quit  the  business, 
as  she  once  said,  or  make  a  business  failure. 
She  was  a  total  stranger  to  those  sisters  in  the 
city,  and  they  had  no  mercy.  We  found  many 
truly  noble  men  and  women  in  Utah,  yet  but 
few  at  that  time  who  were  not  smart  traders. 
I  refrain  to  mention  some  of  the  hardhearted- 
ness  shown  to  my  wife  and  her  sick  child  while 
left  alone  in  that  city.  It  was  not  of  the  real 
American  type  ;  it  was  the  Mormon  type,  and 
effects  which  Mormonism  had  produced  upon 
them.  But  some  in  the  city  were  heartless. 

Cottonwood  as  a  locality  had  no  town  or  vil- 
lage at  that  time.  We  called  at  a  farm  house 
and  asked  for  accommodation  for  the  night, 
stating  to  them  our  condition  and  circum- 
stances. We  were  told  that  we  could  be  ac- 
commodated for  the  night.  We  saw  no  male 
member  of  the  family.  There  were  a  number 
of  women,  of  different  ages,  all  busy  attend- 
ing to  their  own  departments,  but  not  a  word 
appeared  to  be  exchanged  with  each  other. 
The  demeanor  of  the  family  toward  each  other 
to  us  was  strange.  Not  a  ray  of  the  cheerful 
or  social ;  none  talking  to  each  other,  and  con- 


Locating"  in  Pay  son.  195 

sequently  no  one  talked  with  us.  I  felt  at  a 
loss  to  know  what  was  the  matter.  We  were 
made  comfortable  at  meals  and  lodgings.  We 
had  told  them  we  were  totally  destitute  of 
funds,  and  could  not  repay  them,  but  that  ap- 
peared to  be  all  right ;  and  while  there  was 
nothing-  in  the  least  disagreeable  toward  us 
manifested  by  any  one  of  the  family,  yet  in  the 
absence  of  any  cheerfulness  and  sociability  I 
felt  peculiarly  strange.  I  never  saw  the  like 
before  or  since,  in  any  except  in  polygamic  fam- 
ilies, and  found  afterward  that  most  of  the 
families  where  there  were  a  plurality  of  wives 
acted  in  that  way.  I  realized  at  the  time  that 
there  were  some  jarring  strings  in  that  family, 
and  when  I  afterwards  became  more  acquainted 
with  the  Mormons  and  the  plural  wife  work- 
ings, I  took  it  for  granted  that  that  family 
must  have  been  of  the  polygamic  families  who 
at  that  time  were  especially  out  of  enjoy- 
able order.  Those  women  looked  and  acted  as 
though  they  might  have  been  a  number  of  wives 
of  the  same  family.  But  we,  as  strangers  and 
in  need,  were  thankful  for  their  kindness  in 
caring  for  us  during  the  night. 


196      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

I  had  in  my  mind  at  this  time  to  g*o  further 
into  Utah  County,  to  a  place  some  eighty  miles 
south  of  Salt  Lake  City,  where  some  of  our 
traveling  companions  from  England  had  already 
gone.  In  the  morning,  expressing  our  grati- 
tude for  their  hospitality,  we  bade  them  a 
hearty  good-bye,  feeling  thankful  to  God  and 
the  family  who  had  cared  for  us  through  the 
night  in  our  needy  condition.  Again  we  were 
on  the  road,  traveling  on  foot,  not  knowing 
what  might  be  our  future  during  the  day  or  the 
following  night.  This  traveling  without  purse 
or  scrip  was  new  to  us  both — we  had  not  been 
raised  in  that  way,  and  this  was  our  first  ex- 
perience on  that  line.  But  we  walked  along 
now  more  cheerfully,  having  fared  so  well  the 
past  night,  for  we  looked  upon  it  as  an  omen 
of  good  for  penniless  tramps.  We  now  trav- 
eled along  hopefully,  talking  by  the  way,  until 
about  10  o'clock,  when  we  sat  down  to  rest. 
My  associate  and  myself  were  constantly  reck- 
oning things  up  as  they  now  passed  before  us. 
We  were  both  earnest  in  our  investigations. 
We  had  gone  to  Salt  Lake  to  see,  .to  know,  and 
we  were  willing  to  probe  the  bottom  facts  of 


Locating"  in  Pay  son.  197 

the  system,  and  while  we  sat  by  the  road-side, 
sizing-  up  our  condition  and  surrounding's,  a 
team  caught  up,  and  we  were  invited  by  the 
driver  to  ride.  Thus,  after  a  long-  day's  drive 
of  near  forty  miles,  we  landed  in  the  city  of 
Provo.  We  were  here  cared  for  over  nig'ht  by 
a  doctor,  who  was  a  passeng-er  in  the  wagx>n 
during*  the  day.  Our  minds  had  been  di- 
verted to  more  pleasant  and  cheerful  thoughts 
in  conversation  with  our  friendly  travelers,  who 
were  cheerful,  enjoyable  company,  and  who  ap- 
peared to  care  but  little  for  Mormon  ism  and 
less  for  Christianity.  Mormonism,  in  common 
with  all  national  religions,  appears  to  impress 
its  followers  with  the  natural  rather  than  the 
spiritual.  Its  effect  upon  the  mind  is  more  of 
the  human  and  organic  than  that  of  the  divine 
and  spiritual. 

My  companion  and  brother  here  engaged  to 
remain  in  the  employ  of  the  doctor  at  Provo. 
It  was  the  first  time  since  we  had  left  England 
that  we  had  been  separated.  From  our  youth 
we  had  mingled  and  been  associated  together, 
and  there  had  generated  an  affinity  (David  and 
Jonathan-like)  that  had  made  us  one  ;  and  now, 


198      Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

when  separated  under  existing1  circumstances, 
we  both  felt  too  lonesome  to  endure  it.  I  now 
was  to  travel  alone.  I  was  by  this  time  be- 
coming* anxious  about  my  wife  and  boy  I  had 
left  sick  in  the  wagon  in  the  city  ;  but  I  must 
move  onward  to  Payson,  the  settlement  I  had 
purposed  to  go  to.  My  associate,  lonesome  and 
not  satisfied  with  his  employer,  followed  in  a 
few  days.  I  think  at  this  time  we  both  felt 
''company  in  distress  makes  the  trouble  less," 
for  I  was  really  glad  to  see  him  on  his  arrival. 

At  this  place  we  both  settled  down  for  the 
present.  Here  at  Payson  we  spent  our  time 
principally  while  we  remained  in  Utah.  My 
wife  and  boy  were  yet  in  the  wagon  in  Salt 
Lake  City,  some  eigfhty  miles  away.  I  had 
wandered  to  this  place  under  the  impression 
that  it  was  the  place  to  which  I  must  go.  I 
ask,  Does  providence  order  the  steps  of  some 
people?  and  does  the  Lord  direct  their  going's? 
I  think  he  does. 

On  my  entering  the  city  of  Payson  I  was  met 
by  a  stranger,  a  brother,  for  such  he  proved  to 
be  both  in  word  and  deed.  I  shall  never  forget 
his  kindness.  I  shall  never  want  to  forget 


Locating"  in  Pay  son.  199 

such  kindness.     It  was   "charity,  or  love,  that 
never  faileth." 

Since  my  arrival  at  Salt  Lake  I  had  under- 
gone severely  straitened  circumstances  and 
financial  pressure.  It  had  been  gloomy  and 
dark,  and  at  times,  by  contrasting*  my  prosper- 
ity in  England  with  my  adversity  in  Utah,  I 
had  felt  what  to  myself  appeared  to  be  a  great 
mistake  in  my  coming.  But  just  now,  by 
means  of  this  kind  brother  Howell,  there  is  to 
be  "a  turn  in  the  tide."  I  thought  then,  I 
think  yet,  there  was  an  over-ruling  providence 
in  it.  I  have  ever  felt  he  was  a  man  sent  of 
God  to  the  place  and  at  the  time  I  met  him. 
When  I  first  saw  him  he  was  out  on  the  street 
near  where  I  entered  the  city,  as  though  await- 
ing my  coming.  When  he  saw  me,  he  at  once 
approached  me,  asking  if  I  was  not  one  of  the 
late  arrivals  in  the  valley,  and  from  the  old 
country?  I  told  him  I  was.  He  then  kindly 
and  heartily  invited  me  to  his  home,  saying, 
"Make  my  home  your  home  until  you  can  find 
one  of  your  own,"  asking  if  there  was  any- 
thing, in  any  way,  he  could  do  for  me  as  a 
stranger.  I  told  him  my  real  condition — my 


200      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

wife  and  child  in  the  wagon  at  Salt  Lake  City. 
He  then  said,  "Make  yourself  content  and 
happy  at  my  home,  and  at  once  I  will  see  that 
your  wife  and  child  shall  be  brought  here." 
He  took  me  to  his  home,  and  gave  me  as  hearty 
a  welcome  to  his  home  and  family  as  though  I 
had  been  his  own  expected  child.  His  real 
kindness  was  such,  in  word  and  deed,  that  wkh 
my  prospect  now  for  the  future,  I  completely 
broke  down  into  tears,  and  wept  from  pure 
gratitude.  I  was  then  in  need  of  such  a  friend, 
and  I  thankfully  felt  I  had  found  such,  and  my 
gratitude  at  the  time  was  unbounded.  In  this 
good  brother  I  found  a  friencUin  need,  hence,  a 
friend  indeed.  Well  might  Jesus  say  love  was 
the  law  and  the  prophets.  "A  new  command- 
ment I  give  unto  you,  love  one  another. ' '  *  'Love 
is  the  end  of  the  law."  How  all-conquering  is 
love !  Had  Joseph  Smith  and  his  associates 
from  the  first,  and  Brigham  to  the  last,  been 
governed  by  this  spirit  of  love  for  their  fel- 
lows, their  system  of  religion  and  its  workings 
would  have  been  the  very  opposite  of  what  it 
has  ever  been.  They  and  their  followers,  at 
least,  would  have  been  more  at  peace  among 


Locating"  in  Pay  son.  201 

themselves,  and  would  not  have  been  driven 
from  pillar  to  post  as  their  past  history  shows 
them  to  have  been.  No  ;  had  such  a  spirit  and 
heart  as  possessed  this  good  brother  actuated 
the  hearts  and  minds  of  the  founder  and  per- 
petuater  of  Mormonism,  they,  with  their  sys- 
tem of  religion,  would  have  been  felt  in  the 
world  for  good.  This  kind  brother,  though 
poor  compared  to  some  in  Salt  Lake,  said:  "I 
will  load  up  my  wagon  with  corn,  and  send  it 
to  Salt  Lake  City  [a  distance  of  eighty  miles], 
and  pay  the  expenses,  and  your  wife  and  child 
shall  come  back  in  my  wagon."  And  without 
the  least  delay,  he  hired  a  team,  for  he  did  not 
have  one  of  his  own,  and  sent  for  them,  paying 
all  expenses ;  and  he  heartily  enjoyed  his  kind- 
ness shown  toward  us.  As  in  common  with  all 
mankind,  God  has  a  few  of  such  noble  creat- 
ures among  che  Mormons,  and  Brigham  Young's 
family  showed  no  exception.  This  brother 
said  to  me :  "You  have  had  a  long  journey; 
you  need  a  rest  ;  take  a  rest  awhile,  and  after 
that  I  will  give  you  some  work,  and  assist  you 
to  prepare  for  the  winter  which  is  at  hand."  I 
was  now  feeling  a  sense  of  encouragement,  al- 


202      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

most  losing-  sight  of  my  criticisms  of  their  re- 
ligious system. 

I  have  never  been  able  to  think  of  this  good 
man,  and  his  kindness  to  me  in  my  time  of  real 
need,  but  with  profound  gratitude  to  God  and 
himself.  On  reflecting  on  this  part  of  my  Mor- 
mon experience,  I  have  shed  many  a  tear  of 
deep  gratitude.  Its  inspiration  on  my  soul  has 
ever  been  to  make  me  feel  more  thankful  to  a 
kind,  over-ruling  Providence,  and  a  more  sym- 
pathetic and  brotherly  feeling  toward  my  fel- 
low. When  I  think  that  God  so  loved,  yes,  so 
loved,  poor,  needy  man,  to  do  for  man  what  he 
did  do  for  him  by  means  of  Christ  Jesus,  I  can 
but  say  with  the  poet,  ''Amazing  pity,  grace 
unknown."  When  I  think  how  kindly  and 
heartily  that  good  brother  conducted  me  to  his 
home,  introducing  me  to  his  family,  relating  to 
them  the  particulars  I  had  given  him,  and  the 
family  joining  with  him  in  giving  me  such  a 
hearty  reception  and  welcome,  I  yet  frequently 
undergo  the  emotions  again. 

It  took  over  a  week  to  make  the  round  trip 
to  and  from  Salt  Lake  City,  and  now  as  a  fam- 
ily we  were  together,  with  prospects  in  com- 


Locating-  in  Pay  son.  203 

mon  with  others  in  Utah  for  the  future.  Oth- 
ers of  our  acquaintances  which  we  had  formed 
on  our  journey  had  come  here,  and  we  now  had 
around  us  some  enjoyable  associates  as  neigh- 
bors. The  kind  brother  referred  to  above  was 
not  a  polyg-amist ;  hence  we  could  visit  with 
them.  In  this  connection  I  may  say,  we  were 
never  able  to  visit  with  polygamic  families,  for 
they  always  appeared  to  us  as  a  distinct  people, 
and  truly  unenjoyable  to  us  as  neighbors  with 
whom  to  associate.  I  think,  too,  they  felt 
somewhat  the  same  toward  us  as  anti-polyg- 
amic  brethren  and  sisters. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  AUTHOR  AND  W.  W.  PROVE  MORMONISM  A 
FALSE  RELIGION — THEY  SEPARATE. 

WE  now  started  house-keeping"  again,  in 
log-cabin  style.  We  had  been  wan- 
derers for  over  nine  months,  and  were  heartily 
tired  of  such  unsettled  life.  We  were  anxious 
to  get  into  any  place  that  might  shelter  us,  and 
where  we  could  be  to  ourselves  again,  and  en- 
joy domestic  comfort  and  freedom.  Hence  we 
fully  appreciated  our  little  log  cabin  as  our 
home  and  resting  place.  We  were  poor,  and 
were  not  without  company  in  our  poverty,  for 
very  many  around  us  were  but  little  better. 
The  poor  in  their  poverty  have  always  had  com- 
pany, as  the  world's  history  goes  to  show,  and 
we  found  the  Mormons  as  a  people  at  that  time 
exceptionally  poor,  with  plenty  of  company. 

By  this  time  I  had  become  acquainted  with  a 

number  of  the  brethren,    and   had  many  offers 

of  employment,  and  the  promise  of  potatoes  and 

bread  through  the  winter,  and  with  this  I  was 

(204) 


Mormonism  a  False  Religion.  205 

feeling-  and  seeing*  my  way.  I  had  the  promise 
of  constant  employment  at  $1.50  per  day;  but 
of  course  I  learned  not  to  expect  any  cash  as 
payment  for  my  work,  and  in  this  I  never  met 
with  the  slightest  disappointment,  for  I  never 
received  five  cents  in  money  for  my  work.  The 
people  at  that  time  never  thought  cash,  never 
talked  it,  and  never  handled  it.  Bread  and  po- 
tatoes I  had  guaranteed  to  me  for  work,  but  it 
was  strictly  understood  nothing-  more  as  pro- 
visions, and  many  around  me  had  not  the  pros- 
pect and  certainty  of  that.  At  this  time  I  had 
eng-ag-ed  to  work  for  the  miller,  a  Bro.  Searl. 
He,  too,  was  a  gfood  old  man.  He  was  just, 
and  naturally  inclined  to  be  kind,  and  even  did 
toward  me  better  than  his  agreement,  for  sev- 
eral times  throug-h  the  winter  he  stole  me  a 
piece  of  pork  out  of  his  own  barrel,  unknown 
to  his  wife.  I  could  not  think  at  that  time  that 
his  wife,  as  a  sister  in  the  Mormon  church,  was 
ready  for  "mansions  in  the  skies,"  thoug-h  I 
could  not  think  she  was  much  to  blame  or  at 
fault — she  was  simply  created  that  way,  and 
to  have  acted  otherwise  she  would  have  had  to 
be  some  other  person  than  herself. 


206      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

Our  work  at  that  time  was  building-  a  fort 
wall  around  the  city  for  protection  against  the 
Indians.  The  "Lamanites,"  as  the  Book  of 
Mormon  would  have  it,  prior  to  this  time  had 
threatened  the  safety  of  the  Mormons  at  this 
and  other  settlements,  and  they  were  building- 
mud  walls  for  self-protection,  and  this  fur- 
nished work  for  those  who  needed  such. 

I  lost  no  time,  and  at  $1.50  per  day  I  soon 
had  a  nice  balance  in  my  favor,  for  all  that  we 
could  possibly  consume  of  my  wag-es  was  flour 
and  potatoes,  and  these  were  reasonably  cheap. 
I  soon  had  sufficient  ahead  to  pay  for  the  lot 
and  log-  cabin  I  was  living-  in,  and  had  a  house 
and  town  lot  of  my  own. 

Most  of  the  people  were  poor— many  of  them 
very  poor.  They  lived  hard ;  no  tea,  coffee,  or 
sug-ar ;  poorly  clothed ;  some  of  the  men,  on 
cold  days  in  winter,  would  g*o  around  wrapped 
in  a  bed  quilt  to  protect  themselves  ag-ainst  the 
cold.  Some  of  their  elders — Seventies — would 
occupy  the  pulpit  on  Sabbath  with  nothing-  on 
them  but  a  clean  shirt  and  a  pair  of  common 
overalls — not  a  shoe  on  their  feet.  Such  was 
the  condition  of  some  of  the  people  in  Payson 


Mormoriism  a  False  Religion.          207 

at  that  time.  Some  others  there  were  more 
thrifty  or  fortunate.  The  heads,  Brig-ham  and 
many  others  who  had  taken  the  necessities  of 
their  poorer  brethren,  were  living  in  good  style. 
I  have  the  testimony  of  some  of  these  poorer 
brethren  who  had  suffered  by  the  demands  of 
the  leaders,  that  money  loaned  to  Brig-ham  at 
the  early  settlement  of  Utah  had  never  been  re- 
funded, and  the  poor  brethren  did  not  dare 
to  present  to  Brig-ham  their  claims ;  cattle- 
work  oxen — which  were  loaned  to  Brig-ham 
when  he  first  went  to  Salt  Lake  Valley,  were 
never  accounted  for,  and  the  parties,  thoug-h 
then^needy,  dared  not  call  for  their  equivalent. 
In  this  way  Brig-ham  soon  became  rich  ;  as  in 
my  own  case,  the  labor  I  performed  for  him  was 
soug-ht  to  be  paid  for  out  of  the  tithes,  which 
their  claims  would  say  should  have  been  for 
the  support  of  the  poor.  It  would  appear  from 
the  way  the  tithes  were  going-  at  that  time,  that 
Brig-ham  was  the  poorest  duck  in  the  whole 
puddle.  A  man  that  could  die  a  millionaire,  as 
is  said  of  Brig-ham  Young-,  his  surroundings  all 
considered,  could  but  be  a  robber  of  his  people. 
He  worked  himself  up  into  power  and  control, 


208      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refitted. 

and  then  made  a  personal,  selfish  use  of  it ;  and 
I  doubt  not,  he  has  and  will  reap  the  reward 
of  an  evil-doer. 

We  had  often  heard  it  said  that  plain,  com- 
mon diet  was  productive  of  the  best  health. 
We  had  now  an  involuntary  test  of  it,  and  for 
my  own  part  it  proved  so  to  be,  for  I  was  able 
to  draw  the  beam  at  thirty  pounds  more  than  I 
had  ever  been  able  to.  But  I  do  not  favor  that 
way  of  gaining  weig-ht.  My  wife  had  but  lit- 
tle to  do,  having-  but  little  to  do  with.  There 
were  none  of  the  good  sisters  sick  or  dying-  from 
heavy  sieges  of  extra  cooking1.  We  were  bor- 
dering- close  on  natural  Indian  life.  We  had 
but  little,  and  but  little  to  worry  or  trouble 
about.  What  mig-ht  be  called  real  civilization 
at  that  time  and  place  was  not  bringing-  a  pre- 
mium ;  no,  it  was  not  quite  at  par  just  then.  I 
could  but  think  another  step  would  have  put  us 
where  Noah  was  when  he  had  just  passed  from 
the  old  world  and  was  entering-  on  the  new, 
where  everything  to  him  must  have  new  begin- 
nings. We  had  left  what  was  called  the  old 
world,  and  were  having  new  beginnings. 

I  was  now  settled  down  in  the  Saints'  Rest, 


Mormonism  a  False  Religion.          209 

for  better  or  worse,  as  my  future  might  prove. 
I  had  come  to  America  for  the  sake  of  America, 
and  not  so  much  for  the  latter-day  Zion.  I  had 
come  to  the  headquarters  of  Mormondom  for 
the  prime  purpose  of  testing-  its  claims  and 
character.  I  was  now,  in  connection  with  my 
associate,  Bro.  W.  W.,  endeavoring  to  learn  all 
I  might  be  able.  Everything  that  was  passing 
before  us  was  being  carefully  considered  and 
criticised.  So  far,  as  to  the  claims  of  the 
church  as  such,  everything  had  proven  an  ab- 
solute failure.  I  had  met  with  many  good  peo- 
ple, as  might  be  found  anywhere ;  but  that  to 
me  was  an  individual  and  not  a  church  matter. 
A  few  good  people  who  may  be  found  in  any 
and  all  organic  systems  prove  nothing  pro  or 
con  for  special  divine  claims,  such  as  Joseph 
Smith  put  up,  and  such  as  his  followers  would 
maintain.  Such  claims  are  of  such  a  nature 
they  may  be  tested,  proven,  or  disproven  by 
means  of  the  five  senses.  So  far  in  my  expe- 
rience and  observation,  Mormonism  was  dis- 
proven. Their  claims  to  the  miraculous  power 
•of  God  among  them  had  failed  in  toto.  The 
condition  of  the  people  and  nature  of  things  in 
H 


210      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

their  would-be  Zion  had  been  withheld  from  us 
back  in  the  old  country,  and  had  been  flatter- 
ingly misrepresented ;  and  by  coming  we  had 
found  it  out.  I  knew  now  many  things  which 
I  did  not  know  twelve  months  before.  Many 
such  things  were  only  to  be  learned  by  expe- 
rience and  personal  observation. 

If  there  was  anything  in  which  I  could  ad- 
mire the  Mormons  as  a  people,  it  was  in  their 
dance.  With  them  the  dance  is  part  of  their  re- 
ligion or  devotion.  They  appeared  to  me  more 
like  the  saints  of  God  in  the  dance  than  at  any 
other  time.  If  in  any  sense  the  dance  can  be 
said  to  be  worship  or  devotion,  I  think  the  Mor- 
mons come  nearer  to  it  in  this  than  in  any 
other  of  their  public  exercises.  They  opened 
with  prayer,  as  on  other  occasions.  I  had  never 
learned  to  dance,  and  could  not  think  of  dancing 
while  among  the  Mormons  in  Utah.  It  was 
new  to  me,  but  I  admired  them  in  their  dance. 
They  were  as  quiet  and  orderly  as  at  a  prayer 
meeting.  I  suppose  they  were  experts,  for  they 
practiced  it  much.  My  wife  was  of  mirthful, 
lively  make-up,  and  was  almost  carried  away, 
as  a  spectator,  by  the  Mormons  in  their  dance. 


Mormonism  a  False  Religion.  211 

I  am  now  brought  in  contact  with  Mormons 
of  every  grade  of  Mormon  experience,  from  the 
first  organization  of  the  church  to  the  present. 
I  frequently  interview  them  on  their  experience 
and  observation  of  the  church.  Many  of  them 
give  strangle  accounts  of  the  people  and  the 
church.  I  am  frequently  listening  to  what  the 
older  Mormons  have  to  say  of  the  past  of  the 
church.  My  associate  brother  and  I  are  find- 
ing new  testimonies  in  relation  to  Mormonism 
in  the  past,  which  are  very  damaging  to  its  di- 
vine claims.  Some  have  assisted  in  counter- 
feiting money  at  Kirtland,  and  appear  to  think 
it  was  smart  on  the  part  of  the  Mormons,  and 
a  sharp  trick,  good  enough  to  be  played  off  on 
the  d — d  Gentiles.  Such  men  appear  to  have  no 
eye  to  common  honesty  between  man  and  man  as 
a  principle.  The  idea  with  such  appears  to  be 
how  to  make  the  church  triumph  over  the  Gen- 
tile world,  without  regard  to  the  nature  of  the 
means  used.  The  idea  with  many  of  these  old 
men  in  the  church  is,  the  earth  and  all  its  full- 
ness belong  to  the  Lord,  and  we  only  as  a  peo- 
ple are  the  Lord's  people  ;  hence,  everything 
which  pertains  to  the  earth  belongs  to  the 


212      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

Lord's  people — the  Mormon  church.  And  they 
think  any  means  by  which  they  can  come  into 
possession  of  propert}7  of  any  kind  from  the 
Gentiles,  as  such,  is  justifiable  in  the  sight  of 
God.  With  such  convictions  and  views,  there 
is  left  in  the  minds  of  these  old  Mormons  no 
moral  restraint.  It  is  but  a  question  of  what 
is  the  most  successful  means  by  which  such 
ends  can  be  accomplished.  I  found  many  of 
these  old  members  of  the  Mormon  cause,  and 
especially  those  advanced  highest  in  the  sys- 
tem, holding  these  views.  It  was  a  common 
saying  on  the  part  of  Smith,  "Don't  steal  these 
little  things,  for  it  will  be  but  a  short  time 
when  we,  as  a  people,  will  come  and  take  the 
whole  State  of  Missouri."  I  have  heard  old 
Mormon  brethren,  who  passed  through  some  of 
the  drivings  of  the  church  in  Missouri  and  Illi- 
nois, say  that  they  hoped  and  prayed  that  the 
time  would  soon  come  when  their  children 
would  be  able  to  go  to  Missouri  and  "cut  every 
one  of  their  d — d  throats."  Such  were  the 
teachings  of  Joseph  Smith  to  the  people  while 
at  Nauvoo,  and  so  said  those  old  members  of 
the  Mormon  cause  with  whom  we  conversed  in 


Monnonism  a  False  Religion.          213 

Utah.  Some  of  them  acknowledged  stealing 
from  the  Gentiles  and  bringing*  the  stolen  prop- 
erty to  the  bishops  to  be  put  into  the  church 
store-house  to  be  served  out  to  the  members  of 
the  church.  And  while  these  veteran  Mor- 
mons were  relating  such,  they  felt  perfectly 
justified  in  what  they  had  done. 

Such  a  religion  can  but  have  the  very  worst 
of  influence  and  effect  upon  its  members.  These 
old  brethren  had  been  trained  to  all  such  at 
Kirtland,  in  Missouri,  in  Illinois,  and  they 
could,  then,  glory  in  such  a  history.  Of  course, 
they  had  to  give  up  stealing  from  Gentiles  in 
Utah,  for  there  were  few  or  none  to  steal  from, 
only  a  few  migrating  companies  and  trains  pass- 
ing through  the  territory.  Some  of  these  they 
plundered,  and  one  large  train  they  extermin- 
ated in  the  year  1857,  for  which  John  D.  Lee 
was  executed,  and  about  fifty  others,  no  doubt, 
should  have  suffered  the  same  fate.  But  the 
justice  of  God  slumbereth  not ;  and  while  John 
D.  Ivee's  judgment  went  beforehand,  that  of  the 
others  will  surely  follow  after. 

My  associate,  W.  W.,  and  I  were  now  invited 
and  counseled  to  receive  and  be  ordained  to  the 


214      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Reftited. 

higher  priesthood.  We  were  at  the  time  priests 
in  the  Aaronic  order.  But  now  we  were  in- 
vited and  admonished  to  take  upon  us  the  order 
of  elder  in  the  Melchisedek  priesthood,  and  as 
such  unite  with  the  Elders'  Quorum.  We  did 
so,  and  as  elders  we  were  both  appointed  as 
city  visitors.  The  city  was  divided  into  four 
wards  or  sections ;  four  elders  were  appointed 
by  the  Elders'  Quorum.  Each  elder  was  ac- 
companied by  one  teacher  and  one  deacon — these 
constituting-  one  visiting-  order,  or  class.  Each 
class  was  to  visit  one-fourth  of  the  city  each 
week,  and  follow  each  other  so  that  every  month 
each  class  of  visiting  elders,  with  their  asso- 
ciates, should  pass  round  the  city.  Bro.  W. 
W.  and  myself  were  appointed  as  two  of  these 
visiting  elders.  It  was  made  our  duty  to  ask 
certain  questions  in  each  family,  especially  of 
the  head  of  the  family.  These  questions  re- 
lated to  the  belief  of  the  family  in  the  church 
as  the  true  church  of  God,  their  belief  in  Brig- 
ham  Young  as  the  true  prophet  of  God,  and 
their  confidence  and  loyalty  to  the  higher  priest- 
hood. A  number  of  these  and  such  like  ques- 
tions it  was  made  our  duty  to  ask,  an4  any 


Mormonism  a  False  Religion.          215 

others  we  might  deem  necessary.  It  was  our 
duty  to  inquire  into  any  and  all  particulars  re- 
lating- to  the  church,  and  their  peaceable  rela- 
tions with  their  neighbors.  Should  we  find 
any  unpleasantness,  or  anything  wrong,  we 
were  to  have  it  corrected.  Should  there  be  un- 
pleasant feeling  between  themselves  as  fami- 
lies or  neighbors,  we  labored  to  have  them  rec- 
onciled. We  were  to  admonish  and  teach  them 
their  duties  to  the  church  and  to  each  other,  urge 
them  to  family  devotion,  prayer  and  such  like. 
Most  of  our  duty  and  mission  were,  in  theory, 
of  a  real  Christian  nature.  Our  missions 
brought  us  in  contact  with  some  strange  things, 
and  afforded  us  favorable  opportunities  for 
immediate  knowledge  of  the  real  workings  of 
the  Mormon  system.  As  a  people  I  found  out 
at  once  that  their  religion  consisted  in  being 
.converted  to  the  authorities  of  the  church  and 
their  peculiar  system  of  religion  as  distinct 
from  any  and  everything  else  of  a  religious 
character.  Many  of  them  knew  nothing  of  the 
spirituality  of  Christianity.  They  were  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  nature,  converted  to  a 
false,  deceptive  institution,  about  which  they 


216      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

neither  knew  nor  cared,  only  in  the  nominal 
sense.  I  found  their  religion  was  to  them  what 
Republicanism  is  to  Republicans  or  Democracy 
to  Democrats.  They  were  simply  Mormons, 
and  that  was  what  they  had  been  converted  to, 
and  that  was  all  there  was  of  it.  They  had 
been  taught  much  about  Joseph  Smith  and 
Brigham  Young,  and  were  ready  at  a.ny  time  to 
fight  for  them  ;  but  they  evidently  had  but  lit- 
tle knowledge  of,  and  less  care  for,  Jesus 
Christ.  Should  a  person  in  their  midst  throw 
a  reflection  on  the  system  as  such,  or  speak  a 
word  against  their  prophet,  he  would  soon  have 
the  attention  and  attendance  of  the  Danites,  or 
destroying  angels.  But  such  a  person  might 
have  contended  all  day  against  Jesus  Christ 
and  the  Christian  religion,  and  they  would  have 
taken  it  all  in  good  part.  Such  was  their  state 
of  mind  on  religion.  It  was  not  Buddhism, 
Brahminism,  nor  Mahometanism,  nor  Christ- 
ism  ;  no,  it  was  just  Mormonism — that,  or  noth- 
ing ;  if  not  that,  nothing  whatever.  The  people 
generally  looked  to  the  church  in  the  confeder- 
ate sense  to  save  them,  as  an  unfaithful  Roman 
Catholic  looks  to  the  church  to  save  him.  They 


Mormonism  a  False  Religion.  217 

never  were  taught  a  personal  salvation  ;  salva- 
tion was  only  to  be  obtained  by  becoming"  part 
of  the  organic,  confederate  concern.  They  ex- 
pected to  be  saved  in  the  sense  of  a  tree,  the 
trunk  with  all  its  limbs  and  branches — Joseph 
Smith  the  trunk,  Brigham  as  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal limbs.  Their  temple  sealings  to  one  an- 
other show  the  principle  held  by  them.  Their 
salvation  is  sought  by  works,  not  by  faith  and 
grace  in  Christ  Jesus.  Many  of  them  are 
working  out  their  own  destruction,  not  their 
salvation.  As  a  system,  I  was  at  this  time  con- 
vinced it  was  false  and  from  beneath. 

In  my  experience  as  visiting  elder,  I  became 
more  intimately  acquainted,  and  learned  much 
I  otherwise  could  not  have  known  about  the 
people  and  their  system  in  its  workings  at  head- 
quarters. As  a  people  they  are  in  a  state  of  na- 
ture, with  a  natural  religion,  which  in  many  re- 
spects is  evil  in  its  principles  and  injurious  in 
its  influence  and  bearings  upon  its  people. 

As  visiting  elder  I  had  learned  more  of  the 
nature    of   the    system,    and  was   better    able 
to  protect  myself  against  indiscretions  of  my 
>wn,  and  some  of  the  dangers  of  the  system. 


218      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

True,  they  professed  the  discerning"  of  spir- 
its, but  in  this  I  had  proven  them  false.  I 
am  sure  they  knew  not  my  state  of  mind, 
with  regard  to  them  as  a  people.  Had  they 
known  my  honest  convictions  about  them,  they 
would  have  passed  me  over  the  rim  of  the 
basin,  and  disposed  of  one  who  was  contem- 
plating1 their  exposure. 

About  this  time  I  wrote  some  lengthy  letters 
to  my  father  in  England,  giving*  him  the  result 
of  my  experience  and  observation  up  to  that 
time.  In  those  letters  I  had  expressed  myself 
fully  on  Mormonism.  I  had  given  my  reasons 
why  I  thought  it  false ;  had  requested  my 
father  to  read  my  letters  to  any  and  all  the 
brethren  and  sisters  to  whom  I  had  promised  to 
write  the  facts,  and  he  did  so.  That  proved 
the  end  of  the  Mormon  church  in  that  part  of 
England.  Had  the  Mormons  possessed  the 
gift  of  the  miraculous  discerning*  of  spirits,  they 
could  have  known  what  I  was  doing*  for  them 
at  that  time.  But  no  ;  their  professing*  to  have 
divine  power  and  gifts  in  this  direction  was  all 
false,  and  it  was  well  for  myself  at  this  time 
that  it  was  so. 


Mormonism  a  False  Relig'ion.  219 

Our  visits  and  special  efforts  as  elders  among 
the  people  were  useless  in  the  sense  of  Chris- 
tianity. They  had  never  been  converted  to 
Christ,  and  it  was  no  use  to  approach  them  as 
Christians.  They  did  not  look  at  religion  from 
a  New  Testament  standpoint.  Their  devotion 
and  worship  were  not  based  on  Christ  and  his 
divine  system.  To  talk  Christ  and  the  Chris- 
tian religion  to  them,  apart  from  Mormonism, 
made  most  of  them  look  and  act  strangely. 
With  them  it  was  Mormonism  as  taught  by 
their  leaders.  To  change  them  from  Mormon- 
ism to  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel  of  Christ, 
they  would  have  to  be  overpowered  and  knocked 
down,  as  in  the  case  of  Saul  of  Tarsus.  Such 
people  at  that  time  could  not  be  reached  by  the 
intellectual  theory  of  Christ.  We  know  that 
it  takes  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  connection  with 
the  word  of  God,  to  bring  about  the  spiritual 
conversion  ol  any  one  ;  but  in  the  case  of  a  gen- 
uine Mormon,  as  in  the  case  of  Saul,  it  will 
take  a  double  portion.  Nothing  short  of  the 
truly  divine,  miraculous  power  of  God  will  be 
able  to  undeceive  many  of  them.  Like  Saul  of 
Tarsus,  they  know  not  they  are  in  error.  Did 


220      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

they  but  know  their  error,  many  of  them,  no 
doubt,  would  say,  as  did  Saul,  "Lord,  what 
wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?"  but  the  masses  of 
the  led  are  in  error,  and  under  the  influence 
of  designing-  leaders  and  their  false  system 
of  relig-ion. 

Ignorance,  mixed  with  double  the  amount  of 
native  viciousness,  makes  up  the  Danite  or 
Destroying-  Ang-el  type  found  among-  them. 
The  vicious  make-up  of  some  of  their  followers 
finds  its  true  element  and  employment  in  being- 
destroying-  ang-els,  or  men-killers.  They  have 
had,  ever  since  they  figured  under  Joseph  Smith 
in  Missouri,  an  organized  order  of  men — Danites, 
ordained  "to  curse  with  their  gun,  with  their 
sword,  and  with  their  mouth."  How  is  this 
for  a  religion  that  would  wish  to  clothe  itself 
in  part  with  the  formal  or  outward  mantle  of 
Christ,  as  wool  beneath  which  a  wolf  would 
hide?  Think  of  a  religion  that  in  any  sense 
would  lay  claim  to  that  of  Christian,  having  in 
it  divinely  appointed  and  ordained  man-slayers 
—Destroying  Angels — Danites  !  I  have  it  from 
their  own  mouths.  I  knew  some  of  them  ;  they 
positively  told  me  they  were  ordained  by  Jo- 


Mormonism  a  False  Religion.          221 

seph  Smith  to  curse  the  enemies  of  the  church 
with  their  gun,  with  their  sword,  and  with  their 
mouth  ;  and  they  were  ready  and  willing*  to  do  it. 
Members  of  the  church,  of  vicious  make-up,  were 
selected  by  the  heads  of  the  church — by  Jo- 
seph Smith  in  Missouri  and  Illinois — and  or- 
dained and  appointed  by  the  pretended  prophet 
of  God  of  these  Latter-day  Saints,  to  kill  their 
fellow-men,  to  "  carry  them  over  the  rim  of  the 
basin  ;  "  and  if  the  objectionable  person  was  a 
member  of  the  church,  to  cut  him  off  from  the 
church  by  using-  a  sharp  instrument  under  his 
chin.  Such  is  Latter-day  Saintism — Mormon- 
ism.  These  thing's  I  heard  ;  these  thing's  I  was 
personally  told  ;  these  thing's  I  was  personally 
threatened  with.  I  was  told  to  nry  face  I  must 
not  speak  ag-ainst  the  church,  or  compare  it  in 
any  way  with  the  "d — d  Gentile  churches"  and 
the  world.  I  had  simply  said  to  one  of  these 
divinely  (?•)  appointed  man-killers,  that  the 
Mormon  church  in  Utah  had  in  it  bad  and  good 
people  in  common  with  others,  and  I  was  told 
if  I  ever  repeated  such  I  should  be  cursed,  and 
the  Danite  then  and  there  would  doit.  "Be 
ye  wise  as  serpents  and  harmless  as  doves," 


222      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

never  struck  deep  into  the  heart  of  Joseph 
Smith  or  Brigham  Young',  and  has  never  been 
taught  by  any  of  the  leaders  of  the  Mormon 
system  to  enter  the  hearts  of  their  converts. 
It  was  not  difficult  to  see  that  ' '  Resist  not  evil : 
but  whosoever  shall  smite  thee  on  thy  right 
cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also,"  had  no  place 
in  the  institution  of  Joseph  Smith.  No ;  it  was 
"an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  fora  tooth"  du- 
plicated, in  the  carnal,  vicious,  savage  sense. 
Mormonism  as  a  system  of  religion  is  of  such  a 
nature  that  it  has  necessary  use  for  such  or- 
dained, organized,  vicious  characters  as  an  es- 
sential part  of  its  very  being. 

Mormonism  aims  to  rule  as  a  system  of  civil 
government  the  whole  universe  of  mankind. 
Their  aspirations  and  attempts  at  Nauvoo, 
Illinois,  show  their  movements  in  this  direction. 
There  we  see  Smith  as  Lieutenant-General, 
and  John  C.  Bennett  Major-General,  at  the 
head  of  a  regularly  organized  military  army, 
called,  "The  Nauvoo  Legion." 

Smith  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  a  candi- 
date for  the  presidency  of  the  United  States. 
But  fortunately  for  the  government  and  the  peo- 


Aformonism  a  False  Religion.          223 

pie  who  constitute  it  an  over-ruling  provi- 
dence favored  the  Mormon  back-set,  and  has 
willed  its  being*  kept  in  the  back-ground  ever 
since. 

Mormonism  yet,  in  the  remote  future,  may 
cease  to  be,  but  it  will  not  die  a  voluntary 
death.  No,  their  error  and  wrong  may  have  to 
yield  to  truth  and  right.  When  every  plant 
which  is  not  of  God's  planting  is  rooted  up, 
then  Mormonism  will  be  an  institution  of  the 
past.  It  may  be  part  of  the  man  of  sin  who 
will  be  destroyed  at  the  brightness  of  the 
second  coming  of  Jesus  Christ. 

We  style  Mahomet  a  false  prophet  who 
sought  the  victory  of  his  religion  and  its 
triumphs  by  the  sword.  Can  we  count  Smith 
less  false,  who  to  the  extent  of  his  power 
sought  to  do  the  same,  and  who  only  failed  by 
the  interposition  of  a  wise  providence? 

It  took  six  months'  close  application  on  the 
part  of  my  faithful  associate  and  myself  before 
we  could  pronounce  unwaveringly  that,  as  a 
system  of  religion,  Mormonism  was  false  con- 
trasted with  that  of  Jesus  Christ. 

At    the   end  of   six   months,   in    our    private 


224      Aformonism  Exposed  and  Rejuted. 

councils,  we  declared  to  each  other  (having*  not 
the  least  doubt  then  nor  since)  Mormonism  was  a 
false,  delusive  religion,  and  as  such  had  no 
claims  upon  us,  and  that  we*  had  been  deceived 
and  misled,  and  that  we  would  abandon  it  as 
soon  as  opportunity  might  justify.  We  had 
learned,  too,  that  it  was  not  only  false  as  a 
religious  system,  but  that  it  was  also  danger- 
ous, and  was  strictly  dangerous  to  us  as  we 
then  stood  related  to  it.  I  could  not  now  afford 
to  be  reckless.  My  own  well-being  and  that  of 
my  family  were  at  stake,  and  I  needed  to  use 
the  utmost  care. 

My  associate  was  a  single  man.  He  was  at 
liberty  to  use  the  first  opportunity  to  leave  and 
at  once  did  so.  He  at  once  engaged  to  assist  in 
driving  a  herd  of  cattle  to  California.  He  had 
spent  the  winter  in  Utah — six  months.  He 
had  been  my  youthful  associate ;  Our  families 
were  connected  by  marriage — my  oldest  brother 
having  married  his  sister.  We  had  enjoyed 
each  other's  association ;  had  many,  many 
happy  seasons  together.  We  had  enjoyed 
youthful  associations  before  we  became  religi- 
ous ;  had  enjoyed  Methodism  and  Mormonism 


Mormonism  a  False  Religion.          225 

tog-ether,  as  far  as  Mormonism  could  be 
enjoyed.  But  now  providence,  destiny,  or 
fate,  or  all  is  about  to  separate  us,  and 
surely  it  did ;  for  at  this  writing,  thirty-seven 
years  ago  we  parted  and  have  never  seen  each 
other  since.  The  effects  and  influence  of  Mor- 
monism, with  subsequent  life  in  California, 
led  my  friend  into  scepticism,  in  which  he 
has  remained,  and  on  which  he  has  corres- 
ponded with  me  ever  since.  Had  he  had  in  the 
beginning  of  his  religious  life  a  more  powerful, 
personal,  spiritual  conversion,  as  in  my  own 
humble  case,  he  would  have  been  held  by  the 
knowledge  of  the  fact  and  the  perpetual  power 
of  God  unto  salvation. 

But  I  must  now  be  left  alone.  I  now  must 
bear  my  Mormon  cross  alone.  I  knew,  too, 
that  his  leaving  so  unceremoniously  and  abruptly 
would  throw  suspicion  on  myself  as  being  weak 
in  the  faith  ;  but  this  I  had  made  up  my  mind 
to  endure.  We  had  never  dared  to  intimate  in 
any  way  that  we  intended  to  abandon  the 
church,  for  we  knew  this  would  not  be  religi- 
ously healthy.  . 

Our  experience  by  this  time  had  taught  us 
15 


226      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

some  of  the  dangers  in  and  of  the  church. 
We  had  learned  that  men  had  been  and  then 
could  be  killed  for  their  own  supposed  good  and 
for  the  protection  of  the  church.  We  had 
learned  that  objectionable  characters  could  and 
had  been  put  away  to  save  them  from  com- 
mitting- further  sins  against  the  church,  for 
which  they  would  have  to  atone  in  the  world  to 
come.  Hence,  in  taking  the  life  of  such  the 
people  are  taught  to  believe  that  to  kill  such  is 
better  for  the  person  so  killed,  and  better  also 
for  the  church.  The  Danites  trained  to  such 
are  able  to  look  upon  their  act  of  murder  as  an 
act  of  worship  or  devotion  toward  God  and 
their  fellow.  Yes,  they  can  kill  the  body  con- 
scientiously to  save  their  souls  from  the  greater 
punishment  in  a  future  life.  Think  of  a  religion 
of  Christian  character,  which,  in  the  remotest 
sense,  can  entertain  such  diabolical  inhumani- 
ties in  what  may  be  called  the  civilized  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  ;  and  it  would  ap- 
pear as  though  the  very  old  devil  himself  were 
trying  to  outdo  himself. 

In  the  Mountain  Meadows'  massacre  in  1857 
—the  year  after  I  left — they  murdered   some 


Mormonism  a  False  Religion.          227 

sixty  or  seventy  persons,  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, receiving  answer  to  their  prayers  to 
butcher  the  whole  train.  In  the  name  of  God, 
can  there  be  forgiveness  for  such  religious 
demons  ?  And  all  this  with  hundreds  of  thous- 
ands of  untold  dark,  demoniac  deeds  forms  part 
of  a  religion  called  Mormonism,  or  the  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints.  Such  a 
system  is  nothing  less  in  the  absolute  sense 
than  a  system  of  latter-day  devilism.  This  is 
the  system  that  Joseph  Smith  gave  rise  to  and 
which  Brigham  Young  perpetuated,  and  is  the 
same  to-day  unless  a  modified  class  of  evil 
spirits  are  now  at  its  head  endeavoring  to  mould 
it  according  to  their  present  necessary  and  in- 
voluntary surroundings. 

Having  become  acquainted  with  such  as  the 
foreg'oing,  my  brother  and  myself  felt  we  must 
act  accordingly.  W.  W.  had  won  a  high  place 
in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  many  of  the  people, 
and  especially  in  the  Elders'  Quorum  as  a  man 
of  future  promise  and  usefulness.  He  had 
shown  much  wisdom  and  given  great  satisfac- 
tion in  settling  differences  and  arbitrating 
troubles  among  the  saints  who  were  much  older 


228      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

than  himself  in  his  mission  work  as  visiting- 
elder.  He  had  many  friends.  But  leaving  as 
he  did  without  consulting  his  superiors,  or  in 
any  way  asking  counsel,  necessarily  led  them 
to  think  strange  of  him.  They  were  surprised 
at  his  leaving  without  intimating  in  any  way 
his  intentions.  He  felt  it  best  to  give  them  but 
little  or  no  time  to  reflect  or  plan  on  his  course. 
He  knew  delay  in  his  case  was  dangerous. 
They  knew  though,  intimate  as  we  were,  I  had 
known  all  about  the  matter.  They  could  see 
they  had  misjudged  my  friend  and  suspicion 
rested  the  more  upon  myself ;  but  I  was  yet  in 
the  Mormon  mill  and  the  Mormon  gpds  were 
grinding.  I  felt  myself  under  their  suspicion 
and  began  to  order  my  course  accordingly. 
We  had  arrived  at  our  conclusion  carefully,  and 
and  from  that  time  to  the  present,  thirty-seven 
years,  I  have  never  felt  or  doubted  their 
correctness  ;  but  like  the  horse  who  had  lost  its 
mate  I  was  left  lonesome.  Por  some  time  I  felt 
unsettled  and  uneasy.  We  had  walked  together 
for  many  years  in  youthful  fellowship.  We 
had  passed  through  Methodism  together.  We 
were  now  alike,  having  passed  together  through 


Mormonism  a  False  Religion.          229 

Mormonism.  But  now  we  were  parting"  and  I 
was  to  be  left  in  the  coils  of  the  Mormon 
anaconda.  I  was  truly  sad  at  our  parting, 
and  as  I  turned  away  I  gave  way  to  tears. 
I  knew  and  felt  I  had  parted  with  a  true  and 
faithful  friend  whose  place  could  never  be  filled 
by  another.  I  turned  home  to  my  wife  and  two 
babies  (for  we  had  had  a  little  visitor  during 
the  winter)*  sad  and  lonesome.  I  knew  now  I 
was  suspected  of  being  weak  in  the  Mormon 
faith,  and  in  candor  to  myself  and  those  around 
me  I  must  act  it  out.  I  proposed  from  this 
time  forward  to  discontinue  any  and  everything 
of  an  active  character  in  relation  to  the 
church. 

I  asked  to  be  released  as  visiting  elder  in  the 
city.  Our  reports  had  to  be  handed  in  weekly 
to  our  Elders'  Quorum.  I  was  admonished  to 
go  along  as  usual,  but  I  was  now  conscienti- 
ously done  with  the  church.  I  was  fully  satis- 
fied that  its  claims  were  false  from  the  first  of 
Joseph  Smith  to  the  present.  My  investiga- 
tion of  the  system  was  at  an  end  and  I  now 
wished  to  remain  dormant  and  await  future, 
developments.  I  had,  no  desire  to  act  the  hypo- 


230      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

crite.  I  naturally  detest  and  abhor  hypocrisy 
as  a  trait  of  character.  I  look  upon  it  as  one 
of  the  most  detestable  traits  in  fallen  hu- 
manity. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  AUTHOR'S  EXPERIENCE  AND  TRIAL  FOR 
NEGLECTED  DUTY. 

I  NOW  lay  over,  became  inactive  and  silent 
as  relating*  to  Mormonism,  waiting  and 
watching-  public  rumor  and  private  reports  re- 
lating- to  my  friend  who  had  left  and  myself. 
By  this  time  I  had  learned  by  experience  and 
observation  in  mingling-  with  them  officially 
how  thing's  would  gx>  in  our  case.  My  friend 
was  soon  dropped  from  the  Elders'  Quorum, 
and  on  account  of  my  non-attendance  to  official 
duties,  others  were  appointed  in  my  place. 
This  I  soon  realised  by  my  being-  visited  by 
others.  Having-  acted  in  the  office  I  knew  the 
order  of  thing's  and  acted  accordingly.  I  knew 
it  would  not  do  to  abruptly  resist.  Having- 
their  sympathy  I  must  retain  it.  Having-  my 
hand  in  the  lion's  mouth  I  must  endeavor  to 
keep  him  quiet  and  wait  the  best  time  to  re- 
move it.  These  visiting-  elders  came  round ; 
they  wished  to  know  the  occasion  of  my  non- 

(231) 


232      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

attendance  to  duty.  I  told  them  I  was  some- 
what discouraged  with  the  natural  dis- 
advantages of  the  country  as  such.  That 
times  were  so  much  harder  in  Utah  than  I  had 
been  led  to  expect,  and  that  as  a  family  we  had 
not  been  accustomed  to  such ;  that  we  had  seen 
and  had  been  used  to  better  times  and  circum- 
stances than  we  were  then  in  ;  and  that  I  did  not 
think  it  necessary  to  be  suffering  so  much  for 
religion.  To  this  and  all  such  the  simple- 
hearted  elders  had  little  or  no  objections  to 
offer,  and  in  the  main  I  had  their  sympathy  and 
good  will,  and  I  suppose  they  reported  me  en- 
titled to  sympathy  and  so  passed  me  over. 
They  knew,  too,  by  experience  that  my  excuse 
was  valid,  for  they  themselves  were  in  the 
same  boat. 

But  spring  time  is  now  on  and  we  all  became 
busy.  I  had  engaged  to  attend  the  miller's 
farm,  some  ten  or  twelve  acres — my  team  a 
yoke  of  oxen.  I  was  to  get  one-half  the  crop 
for  manual  labor  on  my  own  part.  The  land 
or  crops  had  to  be  irrigated.  There  is  scarcely 
any  rainfall.  There  was  no  rain  from  April  to 
October  in  1855,  not  even  to  allay  the  dust. 


Author  s  Trial  for  Neglected  Duty.      233 

The  grasshoppers  destroyed  my  crop  of  spring" 
wheat.  I  raised  sufficient  corn  and  potatoes 
and  a  few  other  kinds  of  vegetables  to  do  me. 

The  people  all  farm  together  in  the  same  in- 
closed field.  The  settlements  are  all  neces- 
sarily on  a  stream,  so  as  to  use  the  water  for 
irrigation.  According  to  the  size  of  the  stream 
for  the  supply  of  water,  so  is  the  size  of  the 
town.  Most  of  their  towns  are  incorporated. 
The  male  members  are  all  some  part  of  the 
priesthood.  Each  priest  is  expected  to  watch 
his  fellow.  All  are  officers  in  their  line  of 
priesthood  and  stand  as  sentinels  to  guard 
the  prophet  and  his  church.  A  word  dropped 
by  any  one  derog-atory  to  the  hig-her  priesthood 
or  the  church  is  noted  and  the  offender  closely 
watched  or  punished.  In  a  word,  every  fellow 
is  watching  his  fellow,  and  every  one  afraid  of 
the  other  one.  Their  discipline  on  this  line  is 
thoroug-h.  A  despotic  system  like  that  of  Mor- 
monism  has  necessarily  to  be  full  of  rig-id  dis- 
cipline— a  system  which  has  within  it  ordained 
man-slayers,  and  almost  any  of  such  ordained 
destroying*  angels  authorized  to  judg-e  for  him- 
self when  his  fellow  is  worthy  of  death  com- 


234     Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

pels  even  the  heads — the  prophets — to  be  sur- 
rounded by  body-g-uards  as  were  Smith,  Rig-don 
and  Brig-ham  Young-.  But  I  forbear  here  to 
give  many  of  their  dark  deeds  which  their  true 
history  records  of  them.  Other  writers  have 
given  many  of  such  in  detail — John  D.  Lee 
with  others. 

It  was  reported  by  the  missionaries  in  Eng-- 
land  that  providence  so  favored  the  Saints  in 
the  Salt  Lake  valleys  that  when  their  crops 
were  endang-ered  by  grasshoppers,  God  sent 
g-ulls  which  ate  up  the  'hoppers,  and  that  the 
g-ulls  would  g*org-e  themselves  and  fly  to  the 
mountains  and  disg-org-e  until,  by  this  process, 
they  saved  the  Saints'  crops.  But  to  my 
knowledg-e  the  g-ulls  were  not  in  that  kind  of 
business  the  summer  I  spent  in  the  valleys  ; 
for  the  grasshoppers  destroyed  most  of  our 
small  grain  crops  and  not  a  g~ull  was  to  be  seen. 
These  wonderful  providences  and  miraculous 
manifestations  relating-  to  the  Mormon  religion 
in  my  own  experience  and  observations  among- 
them  were  always  on  the  other  end  of  the  line. 
If  any  or  all  of  them  would  allow  themselves 
to  use  as  much  practical  common  sense  with  re- 


Author's  Trial  for  Neglected  Duty.      235 

g-ard  to  their  religion  as  they  use  every  day  in 
the  common  affairs  of  life  they  could  and  would 
see  it. 

I  next  found  myself  visited  by  some  of  the 
Seventies.  I  knew  then  that  special  means 
were  being-  used  in  my  behalf.  I  knew,  too,  I 
must  be  very  careful  how  I  acted  on  my  own 
behalf  and  how  I  treated  my  friendly  visitors, 
for  they  were  all  acting-  really  kind  toward  me 
in  their  visits  at  that  time.  I  was  careful  not 
to  attack  the  church.  I  knew  it  was  the  wrong- 
time  and  place  to  make  war  on  the  system. 
These  Seventies  are  as  a  part  of  the  priesthood 
— one  grade  above  the  elders.  Many  of  them 
were  men  of  very  limited  experience  in  a 
worldly  sense,  and  much  less  so  in  relig-ion. 
But  I  had  learned  by  this  time  what  could  be 
said  and  what  would  not  be  profitable  for  me  to 
say  under  my  surrounding's.  Paul,  the  apostle, 
had  said  it  became  him  to  become  all  thing's  to 
all  men  that  he  mig-ht  g-ain  some ;  and  some- 
times he  had  resorted  to  craftiness  and  g-uile. 
At  this  time  I  had  to  adapt  myself  to  my  visit- 
ing- brethren.  I  knew  that  they  felt  their  own 
straitened  circumstances  and  the  disadvantages 


236      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refutea. 

they  were  suffering-  from  the  nature  of  the 
country  and  their  religion,  and  I  kept  their 
minds  directed  to  these  facts.  I  was  able  by 
experience  and  the  grace  of  God  to  move  their 
sympathies  in  my  own  behalf.  I  endeavored  to 
make  their  visits  pleasant  and  enjoyable  with 
me.  They  would  partially  look  over  my  non- 
attendance  on  church  duties.  I  knew  I  had  the 
confidence  and  sympathy  of  the  community, 
and  that  I  must  maintain  it  or  be  turned  over 
to  such  as  were  ordained  to  curse  with  their 
g~un,  with  their  sword,  and  with  their  mouth. 
I  knew  there  were  such  in  the  city,  for  they 
themselves  had  told  me  so — men  who  had  been 
ordained  by  Joseph  Smith  to  this  blood-thirsty 
office  in  the  church.  I  knew  I  was  among-  a 
dang-erous  people  should  I  in  any  way  act  in- 
discreetly. These  ordained  blood-hounds  were 
only  too  ready  to  fill  their  fearful  office  should 
occasion  offer.  I  felt  nothing-  but  the  strictest 
care  on  my  own  part  and  the  over-ruling-  of  a 
favorable  providence  could  save  and  deliver  me 
out  of  the  power  of  this  Satanic  system.  I 
told  those  friendly  Seventies  that  Zion  was  not 
what  I  had  expected  as  a  country,  and  the  peo- 


Author's  Trial  for  Neglected  Duty.      237 

pie  were  not  as  well-to-do  as  I  could  desire  ; 
that  I  had  seen  so  much  better  times  in  Eng- 
land ;  and  that  I  felt  it  very  much  to  have  my 
family  in  such  poor  and  straitened  circum- 
stances ;  and  that  I  had  seen  in  coming-  through 
the  states  such  fine  country  and  so  many  people 
who  were  so  well-to-do  that  I  felt  it  very  much 
to  be  living  as  we  were,  many  of  us,  in  these  val- 
leys— so  poor  and  suffering  so  many  natural 
disadvantages  ;  and  that  I  thought  religion  was 
costing  too  much.  I  claimed  that  people  should 
use  all  the  natural  advantages  God  had  be- 
stowed upon  them  while  here  on  earth,  and 
that  it  was  hard  for  me  to  think  that  God  re- 
quired me  to  forfeit  the  good  things  of  this 
world  in  order  to  serve  him  or  get  to  heaven. 
Having  had  some  experience  at  this  time,  I  felt 
sure  I  could  out-talk  many  of  them.  I  fur- 
nished probably  more  than  my  share  at  their 
visits  to  keep  back  too  many  questions  on  their 
part.  In  this  I  moved  their  sympathies  in  be- 
half of  our  poverty-stricken  condition,  and  in 
their  reports  they  could  but  and  did  sympathize 
with  me.  Many  of  the  people  in  Payson  at  that 
time  were  very  poor  and  living  very  hard.  I  was 


238      Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

acquainted  with  a  number  of  people — men  who 
did  not  have  a  coat  to  their  name.  Some  of 
these  were  of  the  Seventies  in  the  priesthood. 
They  would  go  about  in  winter  wrapped  in  an 
old  bed  quilt.  In  summer  such  poor  creatures 
never  had  a  shoe  on  their  feet.  As  to  tea, 
coffee  and  sugar  they  never  expected  such  and 
were  content  without  them.  I  only  speak  of 
such  to  show  how  the  people  were  living1  at 
that  time  compared  with  the  masses  of  laboring* 
people  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  During 
our  stay  in  Payson,  some  eig'hteen  months,  I 
do  not  remember  tasting  these  articles  referred 
to ;  yet  I  had  constant  work  at  one  dollar  and 
fifty  cents  per  day.  I  could  get  town  property 
or  the  right  to  farm  a  small  patch  of  land  by 
paying  one-tenth  to  the  church  as  tithe.  We 
could  improve  town  lots.  I  made  brick — sun- 
dried — built  me  a  house,  sold  the  house  and  lot 
for  cattle  ;  traded  the  cattle  for  horses  and 
wagon,  etc.  The  land  is  rich,  but  only  valu- 
able as  it  can  be  supplied  with  water  by  irriga- 
tion. The  climate  is  moderate  in  these  valleys. 
The  breeze  from  the  snow-capped  mountains 
makes  it  pleasant  in  summer. 


Author's  Trial  for  Neglected  Duty.      239 

I  had  raised  a  little  corn  ;  had  a  little  to  spare 
and  took  a  load  to  Salt  Lake  City  (for  there 
was  no  store  in  Payson  at  that  time)  some 
eighty  miles,  with  an  ox  team.  It  took  nie 
some  nine  or  ten  days  to  make  the  trip.  After 
expenses  were  paid  I  returned  with  scarcely 
anything-  for  family  use.  I  was  far  from  being- 
content  to  live  at  this  poor,  dying-  rate.  Had  I 
believed  in  the  ckurch  as  the  church  of  God  it 
would  have  been  hard  for  me  to  believe  that 
such  a  life  and  such  a  condition  of  thing's  were 
necessary  to  be  endured  to  please  God  and  to 
save  my  own  soul. 

In  the  fall  of  1855,  a  brother  Hovey  came  to 
Payson  who  was  said  to  be  from  headquarters 
as  a  special  missionary  among-  the  settlements. 
His  object  appeared  to  be  to  work  up  the  peo- 
ple to  a  more  faithful  condition  of  religion,  to 
stir  the  people  up,  to  excite  them  to  a  more  en- 
thusiastic confidence  in  the  heads  of  the  church 
and  the  church  in  common,  as  well  as  in  reg-ard 
to  their  duty  and  conduct  to  each  other.  The 
enthusiastic  fellow  raised  quite  an  excitement. 
He  was  boisterous,,  loud-talking-,  over-confident 
as  to  the  divine  claims  of  the  church.  He  was 


240      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

severe  on  such  weak,  doubting-  brethren  as  my- 
self ;  charged  such  up  with  being-  apostates  of 
the  worst  kind.  I  was  at  one  time  somewhat 
alarmed  for  fear  he  would  work  the  brethren 
up  too  hig-h  ag-ainst  weak  brethren  whom  he 
styled  apostates.  He  told  them  to  drag-  them  out 
of  their  city,  and  when  they  hadg-ot  them  out  to 
do  as  they  pleased  with  them.  This  preacher, 
g-ot  the  people  very  much  excited  and  induced 
many  of  them  to  publicly  confess  their  sins  and 
be  re-baptized  for  the  remission  of  sins.  They 
g-ot  their  confession  craze  up  so  hig-h  that  those 
who  had  committed  the  greatest  crimes  among- 
and  towards  one  another  were  the  most  es- 
teemed and  honored.  Some  prominent  breth- 
ren had  done  some  bad  thing's ;  some  had  stolen 
wheat  out  of  the  mill ;  some  had  stolen  sheep 
out  of  the  herd ;  some  had  formed  undue  in- 
timacy with  the  opposite  sex  apart  from  mar- 
ried relation  Bro.  H.  had  persuaded  them 
that,  in  order  to  pardon  they  must  publicly 
confess  their  sins  and  be  re-baptized.  Hence, 
the  confession  and  a  multitude  of  re-baptisms 
were  administered. 

About    the    close   of    Bro.    H's.    protracted 


Author's  Trial  for  Neglected  Duty.      241 

effort,  a  young*  married  sister  was  taken  very 
sick.  She  was  daughter-in-law  of  the  presi- 
dent of  the  city.  Bro.  Hovey  proposed  to  ad- 
minister the  ordinance  to  her  for  the  healing"  of 
the  sick.  Fasting1  and  prayer  were  proposed 
to  the  city  to  be  observed  before  the  laying-  on 
of  hands  for  the  sick.  This  all  observed. 
Bro.  H.,  with  some  assistants,  administered 
the  ordinance  anointing-  with  oil  and  the  laying- 
on  of  hands.  Bro.  H.  was  the  principal  officiat- 
ing- priest,  and  in  the  act  he  pronounced  that 
this  young-  wife  (who  was  expected  to  become  a 
mother)  should  have  a  daug-hter,  and  that  both 
mother  and  daug-hter  should  live  to  become 
great  and  renowned  women  in  the  Zion  of  these 
latter-days  ;  but  unfortunately  for  this  young- 
wife  she  never  became  a  mother  and  died  the 
same  nig-ht.  I  was  very  much  interested  in 
this  case  of  sickness.  I  could  see  at  once  it 
was  to  count  for  or  ag-ainst  Mormonism  in 
my  mind.  The  attention  of  the  city  was  also 
directed  to  the  case.  But  the  divine  aid  was 
not  to  accompany  this  would-be  special  Mormon 
who  was  almost  worshiped  by  many  of  the 

people   at   that    time.     And   here   was   left   on 
16 


242      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

record  one  more  absolute  proof  that  the  special 
power  of  God  is  not  with  or  among"  that 
people. 

I  need  not  say  that  Bro.  H.  after  this  did  not 
tarry  long  in  the  place  and  left  under  censure. 
He  afterward  was  impeached  for  giving-  rise  to 
such  a  craze  on  public  confessions,  for  a  num- 
ber of  those,  some  prominent  in  office,  had  ex- 
posed themselves  and  afterward  were  ashamed 
of  what  they  had  done  and  confessed. 

Shortly  after  this  an  incident  occurred  in 
which  I  referred  to  this  spell  of  confessing 
which,  at  the  time,  I  was  fearful  would  cost  me 
my  life.  I  was  in  company  with  a  brother 
Bracken  and  a  brother  Perry.  The  latter  was 
weak  in  the  Mormon  faith  ;  the  former  an  old- 
time  Joseph  Smith  Mormon.  They  were 
warmly  but  in  good  humor  discussing  the  pros 
and  cons  of  the  system.  Bracken  was  endeav- 
oring to  show  that  the  Saints  in  Utah  were  the 
wheat  separated  from  the  chaff,  and  were  gath- 
ered there  as  in  God's  garner  for  their  preser- 
vation ;  and  this  was  by  divine  command 
through  Brigham  Young.  That  the  gospel 
net  was  being  drawn  ashore,  the  good  fish  be- 


Author's  Trial  for  Neglected  Duty.      243 

ing-  gathered  into  these  mountains,  while  the 
bad  fish  out  of  the  net  were  to  be  destroyed— 
burnt  up  as  chaff.  He  had  .failed  to  see  that 
the  tares  had  to  be  g-athered  first  into  bundles 
and  burnt  up.  For  the  time  being-  Bro.  B. 
seemed  to  have  the  advantag-e  in  the  arg-ument. 
When  I  turned  to  Bro.  B.  and  asked  him  if  he 
really  looked  upon  these  scriptures  in  that 
ligfht,  he  frankly  stated  he  did.  I  then  called 
his  attention  to  the  confessions  on  the  part  of 
so  many  brethren  during1  the  late  protracted 
effort,  and  asked  him  if  it  did  not  seem  that 
the  wheat  and  chaff  had  been  g-athered  here  in 
Utah  tog-ether,  and  that  the  separation  had  not 
yet  taken  place ;  that  the  g-ospel  net  had  been 
drawn  to  these  valleys,  and  that  the  separation 
had  not  yet  taken  place  between  the  bad  and 
the  g-ood  fish.  Then  I  asked  if  he  did  not 
think  as  a  people  here  we  compared  favorably 
with  those  people  we  had  left  behind,  and  that 
we  were  here  a  mixture  of  wheat  and  chaff, 
bad  and  g-ood  fish,  in  common  with  those  we 
had  left  behind.  At  this  he  turned  pale,  be- 
came white  and  nervous  with  passion ;  and 
looking-  at  me  with  a  fierce,  vicious  countenance 


244      Momnonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

said,  "Joseph  Smith  ordained  me  to  curse 
with  my  grin,  and  with  my, sword,  and  with  my 
mouth ;  and  if  I  ever  hear  you  compare  Zion 
with  the  damned  Gentiles  again,  I  will  do  it." 
I  was  somewhat  fearful  he  would  do  it  then, 
and  I  do  not  doubt  if  he  had  happened  to  have 
a  sword  or  gun  at  that  time  he  would  have 
used  it,  for  he  looked  as  fiendish  and  blood- 
thirsty as  a  human  being-  is  capable  t>f . 

Thus  I  had  before  me  a  specimen  of  Mormon 
wheat  in  the  Mormon  garner  and  a  specimen  of 
the  good  fish  caught  and  drawn  to  the  Mormon 
Zion  by  the  Mormon  gospel  net.  Should  such 
wheat  and  fish  as  this  be  anything,  like  an 
average,  say,  nothing  of  the  worst,  what  kind 
must  the  worst  be?  But  this  is  part  of  the 
workings  of  Mormonism.  Joseph  Smith  had 
use  for  such  in  his  religious  business,  but 
Christianity  needs  not  such.  I  need  not  say 
that  I  had  no  reply  to  make  to  Bro.  Bracken's 
threat.  I  was  for  some  time  fearful  of  his 
wicked  influence.  I  supposed  he  would  report 
what  had  occurred  between  us  to  the  higher 
council  of  the  city  and  from  them  I  should  be 
marked  as  one  needing  Danite  attention.  For 


Authors  Trial  for  Neglected  Duty .      245 

some  time  I  carefully  watched  the  demeanor  of 
leading  men  toward  me.  But  finding  no  in- 
dications of  censure  manifested  by  any  one  I 
became  more  easy,  supposing  that  Bro.  B.  had 
but  little  influence  with  those  in  authority 
above  him.  The  people  had  been  recently  ex- 
cited by  Bro.  Hovey,  and  making  such  a  sub- 
lime failure  in  the  case  of  healing,  they  lost  all 
confidence  in  him,  and  his  influence  had  faded 
away.  The  people  were  recovering  their  right 
senses.  All  was  quiet  now  for  a  short  time 
and  I  was  looked  upon  as  a  brother  weak  in  the 
faith,  but  I  had  not  yet  lost  their  sympathy  as 
a  community. 

What  can  I  yet  say  of  Mormonism  but  that 
it  is  strictly  carnal  and  Satanic.  Mormonism 
is  only  true  to  itself.  As  a  system  of  religion, 
it  is  another  spirit  to  that  of  the  Christian. 
Its  leaders  do  not  possess  the  Christian  spirit. 
They  do  not  teach  it,  and  their  followers  are 
not  inspired  and  moved  by  it.  Surely  there  is 
a  true  spiritual  religion  which  unites  man  to 
his  God  and  his  fellow  ;  and  there  is  a  false 
religion,  a  counterfeit,  which  only  unites  man 
to  man  and  which  is  but  earthly,  only  produc- 


246      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

ing  natural,  carnal  results ;  and  Mormonism  is 
the  latter.  After  a  knowledge  of  such  as  the 
foregoing-,  I,  in  all  soberness,  ask  is  there  any 
thing  set  forth  in  the  New  Testament  by  Jesus 
Christ  and  his  apostles  that  could  or  would 
warrant  these  phases  of  organic  Mormonism 
which  have  passed  under  my  experience  and 
observation  ?  My  answer  is  no  ;  nothing  in  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  so  carnal,  so  wicked. 

I  was  now  being  visited  by  the  members  of 
the  High  Priest's  Quorum  and  began  to  feel  at 
this  time  that  I  was  attracting  special  attention 
and  that  in  the  end  I  might  see  trouble,  and 
yet  I  could  but  wait  to  see  what  the  future 
would  bring  forth.  I  could  not  think  my  con- 
dition and  circumstances  were  all  chance.  I 
believed  there  was  behind  and  mingling  with 
this  peculiar  part  of  my  experience  a  con- 
trolling providence. 

I  was  finally  visited  by  one  of  the  High 
Priests,  a  near  neighbor  and  a  polygamist, 
Bro.  Stewart.  He  was  a  man  of  some  natural 
ability,  a  1awyer  at  times — when  needed.  I 
had  no  doubt  but  his  motive  was  good  in  his 
visit.  I  thought  then,  have  ever  thought  since, 


Authors  Trial  for  Neglected  Duty.      247 

ie  intended  to  make  me  better  acquainted  with 
the  Mormon  system  of  religion  and  by  so  doing- 
encourage  me.  He  did  all  the  talking- ;  he 
talked  too  much  and  too  long*.  He  acted  as 
thoug'h  he  believed  all  he  said.  He  had  confi- 
dence in  himself.  He  had  the  theory  of  Mor- 
monism  in  his  head  and  could  tell  it.  He  acted 
as  thoug-h  he  was  of  some  importance  to  me, 
and  he  raised  in  me  a  shade  of  prejudice  from 
the  start ;  but  I  knew  I  had  to  take  my  Mor- 
mon medicine  irrespective  of  kind  or  size  of  the 
dose.  So  I  braced  up  for  the  occasion.  This 
was  the  first  and  only  visit  he  ever  paid  me. 
Having-  introduced  the  object  of  his  visit  he  un- 
dertook to  instruct  me  in  the  principles  and 
purposes  of  Mormonism.  He  claimed  for  it 
divine  orig-in  throug-h  Joseph  Smith,  giving-  the 
history  of  the  visits  of  God,  Jesus  Christ, 
ang-els,  Peter,  James  and  John  to  Smith  at  the 
beg-inning-  of  the  church  ;.  what  God  proposed  to 
do  through  or  by  this  latter-day  work ;  how 
this  people  were  truly  the  chosen  people  of 
God  to  carry  out  God's  final  and  full  dispensa- 
tion relative  to  the  human  family ;  how7  all  the 
wicked  nations  of  the  earth  would  soon  be 


248      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

destroyed ;  how  the  latter-day  work  would 
spread  and  fill  the  whole  earth  and  stand  for- 
ever ;  as  the  little  stone  hewn  out  of  the  moun- 
tain without  hands,  as  found  in  the  book  of 
Daniel ;  that  the  time  was  at  hand  when  Joseph 
and  Hiram  with  "the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect,"  would  visit  us  as  a  people  in  Zion  ; 
that  we  should  be  instructed  and  directed  by 
exalted  spirit  visitors  to  build  houses  in  which 
we  should  each  have  a  secret  or  holy  room  in 
which  angels  from  the  other  world  would 
commune  and  converse  with  us  and  direct  us  in 
all  thing's  ;  that  the  kingdoms  of  this  world 
were  soon  to  become  the  kingdom  of  God  and 
his  s.on  Jesus  Christ ;  and  that  the  Saints  now 
in  these  valleys  should  rule  the  whole  earth  as 
God's  peculiar,  favored  people. 

Bro.  S.  was  evidently  well  versed  in  the 
Smith  system  of  religion  and  left  to  himself 
could  put  a  very  pretty  face  on  it.  I  think  he 
spent  at  least  an  hour  on  me  and  really  enjoyed 
the. job,  and  in  return  he  hoped  to  strengthen 
my  weak  faith.  I  sat  before  him  taking  it  all 
in  and  wondering  at  times  if  he  will  offer  to 
prove  anything  he  is  talking  about.  Of  course 


Author  s  Trial  for  Neglected  Duty.      249 


his  "castle  in  the  air"  looked  pretty,  and  I 
would  have  given  him  a  horse  if  he  could  have 
proven  it.  I  never  answered  a  word  until  he 
got  through.  Indeed,  he  offered  no  chance. 
I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  ask  no  questions, 
but  just  let  it  pass.  But  he  did  not  propose  to 
have  it  go  that  way ;  so  in  the  absence  of  any 
answer  on  my  own  part  he  asked  me  what  I 
thought  about  those  things.  I  felt  he  had 
made  a  sublime  failure  for  want  of  proof  and 
I  could  but  have  him  know  it.  So  I  said  to 
him  that  his  claims  and  theory  looked  pretty, 
but  in  the  absence  of  any  proof  it  had  no  effect 
upon  my  mind.  At  this  he  rose  up  hastily, 
left  the  house  without  saying  good  night. 
I  saw  at  once  he  was  all  out  of  sorts,  that  his 
priestly  position,  his  office  and  effort  had  not 
met  with  the  appreciation  and  hopeful  results 
he  had  expected.  I  felt  sure  my  reply  had 
given  offence,  and  so  it  had.  But  I  had  felt 
somewhat  annoyed  at  so  much  simple  statement 
in  the  absence  of  the  least  particle  of  proof. 
I  felt  anxious  to  offer  him  a  reproof,  my  answer 
was  rather  ironically  expressed.  I  had  been 
thrown  off  my  guard  somewhat  by  such  a  la- 


250      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

bored  effort  in  the  absence  of  proof.  I  felt  he 
had  treated  me  too  much  like  I  was  taking'  my 
first  lesson  in  the  primary  principles  of  the 
Mormon  system,  and  my  combative  temper  was 
up,  and  when  I  stated  to  him  that  I  thought 
such  claims  and  declarations  should  be  accom- 
panied by  adequate  proof,  he  was  smart  enough 
to  see  where  he  was,  and  was  satisfied  to 
retire. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
OBSERVATIONS  ON  POLYGAMY  —  ITS    EVILS. 


HORTLY  after  this,  I  was  summoned  to 
appear  before  the  Elders'  Quorum  to  give 
reasons  for  my  indifference  toward  the  church 
and  to  answer  such  questions  as  might  be  pro- 
pounded. I  was  given  two  weeks'  time,  I  sup- 
pose for  preparation.  I  now  felt  as  though  a 
Mormon  storm  was  about  to  burst  upon  me.  I 
could  realize  I  had  offended  a  Smith-ordained 
Danite  and  an  important  high  priest,  though 
neither  of  them  was  a  member  of  my  Elders' 
Quorum,  and  I  was  amenable  to  my  own  order 
of  priesthood  first.  But  they  had  moved  the 
president  of  my  quorum  to  bring  me  to  trial. 
For  the  first  week  of  my  allotted  time  I  felt  as 
though  the  Mormon  anaconda  was  wrapping  its 
coils  around  me.  I  thought,  What  will  become 
of  my  family  should  I  be  disposed  of?  My  wife 
was  distressed  beyond  measure.  She  thought 
they  would  surely  put  me  out  of  the  way,  and  her- 
self and  little  ones  would  be  left  at  their  mercy. 

(251) 


252      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

All  looked  to  us  as  though  the  dark  horrors  of 
Mormonism  were  gathering-  around  us.  For 
the  first  full  week  we  could  not  see  a  ray  of 
light.  We  felt  as  though  we  were  forsaken  of 
God  and  all  mankind,  and  as  though  the  Mor- 
mons en  masse  were  but  the  agents  of  Satan 
hovering  around  for  our  destruction.  This 
week  was  to  us  truly  a  week  of  Gethsemane. 
"My  soul  was  exceeding  sorrowful."  It  ap- 
peared as  though  hell  and  the  Mormons  all 
thrown  in  were  arrayed  against  us.  It  ap- 
peared during  this  week  as  though  I  was  un- 
able to  look  at  anything  but  the  worst  of  con- 
sequences. While  I  write  at  this  time,  how  I 
should  love  to  call  up  that  dear  companion  from 
her  sleep  in  the  grave,  and  talk  over  those  scenes 
and  circumstances  in  which  she  so  faithfully 
played  her  part  with  me.  I  can  never  forg'et 
her  heroic  answer  when  questioned  about  my 
leaving  the  church  ;  how  she  replied  to  that  old 
priest,  that  she  herself  was  the  cause  of  my 
leaving  the  country ;  that  she,  and  not  I,  was 
to  blame  for  our  intentions  to  leave ;  that  she 
believed  I  would  be  willing  to  remain  in  the 
valleys,  but  that  she  was  urging  me  to  leave. 


Observations  on  Polygamy.  253 

Thus  she  took  the  blame  upon  herself  in  order 
to  screen  me.  The  effort  of  the  old  priest  was 
a  bid  for  the  woman  and  two  children  and  what 
little  property  I  might  have,  and  to  let  William 
gfo,  if  he  wished  to,  saying;  he  would  take  care 
of  her  and  her  children.  But  her  answer, 
thoug-h  misleading-  to  him,  worked  well  in  my 
own  behalf;  for  her  answer  was  such  that 
those  who  otherwise  would  have  become  my 
worst  foes,  sympathised  the  more  with  me.  I 
could  but  think  that  the  moderate  demeanor  of 
the  officials  of  the  church  toward  me  was,  in 
part  at  least,  attributable  to  her  ingenious  ef- 
fort. I  had  passed  throug-h  temptations  and 
trials  before  this  for  the  sake  of  religion,  but 
this  week  was  one  of  the  darkest  of  my  life.  I 
felt  I  could  not  act  the  part  of  a  hypocrite.  I 
thoug-ht,  I  cannot  possibly  fall  into  the  Mor- 
mon line,  for  in  my  very  soul  I  disbelieved  their 
religion,  and  that  I  would  not  acknowledge  I 
did,  even  to  save  my  own  life.  At  this  time  I 
felt  the  full  force  of  that  sublime  song-,  "Nearer, 
my  God,  to  Thee."  I  was  now  driven  closer 
to  God.  I  had  no  other  source  to  g-o  to.  I  had 
never  dared  to  mention  or  open  my  mind  to  any 


254      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

one  about  my  friend  W.  W.,  wl?o  had  left  so 
unexpectedly,  but  I  knew  it  must  necessarily 
have  thrown  a  suspicion  of  weakness  of  faith 
on  me. 

But  at  the  end  of  the  first  week  I  passed 
from  darkness  into  light.  I  had  learned  and 
recited  as  my  first  effort  when  a  small  boy  in 
Sunday-school,  the  twenty-third  Psalm,  and 
now  it  came  up  in  my  mind  and  heart  in  all  its 
sublime  force  and  fullness.  It  came  up  in  my 
mind  as  a  messenger  of  light  and  comfort.  I 
repeated  it  to  myself,  and  a  transition  of  mind 
was  effected.  I  now  felt  as  happy  and  anxious 
to  meet  the  issue  before  me  as  I  had  felt  un- 
happy and  fearful  in  relation  to  it.  I  felt  the 
sentiment  and  spirit  of  this  Psalm  would  be 
verified  in  my  pending  condition  and  case  among 
the  Mormons,  and  through  life.  I  was  now 
anxious  for  the  time  to  come  when  I  should 
have  the  pleasure  and  privilege  to  stand  before 
the  Elders'  Quorum,  and  the  people  en  masse 
there  gathered  to  hear  what  I  might  have  to 
say  in  my  own  behalf.  Thoughts  now  passed 
through  rny  mind  which  I  felt  anxious  to  ex- 
press. I  saw  and  felt,  clear  as  the  sunbeams, 


Observations  on  Polygamy.  255 

the  line  of  thought  I  should  present,  and  it 
made  me  really  anxious  for  the  time  to  come. 
My  wife's  fears  had  passed  away,  and  we  were 
both  enjoying-  the  divine  Spirit  to  a  state  of  per- 
sonal rejoicing-.  I  felt  at  this  time  how  the 
devil  can  darken  the  mind  and  fill  the  soul  with 
evil  foreboding's,  and  how  the  Spirit  of  God 
can  enlighten  the  mind  and  fill  the  soul  with 
joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory.  I  now  saw 
clear  throug-h  the  pending-  crisis.  I  now  felt 
and  enjoyed  this  beautiful  Psalm,  "  The  Lord 
is  my  shepherd  ;  I  shall  not  want.  He  maketh 
me  to  lie  down  in  green  pastures  ;  he  leadeth 
me  beside  the  still  waters ;  he  restoreth  my 
soul ;  he  leadeth  me  in  the  paths  of  rig-hteous- 
ness  for  his  name's  sake.  Yea,  thoug-h  I  walk 
throug-h  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  I 
will  fear  no  evil,  for  thou  art  with  me ;  thy  rod 
and  thy  staff  they  comfort  me ;  thou  preparest 
a  table  before  me  in  the  presence  of  my  ene- 
mies ;  thou  anointest  my  head  with  oil ;  my  cup 
runneth  over.  Surely  g-oodness  and  mercy  will 
follow  me  all  the  days  of  my  life,  and  I  will 
dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  forever."  Ps. 
23.  I  was  under  the  spirit  and  influence  of  this 


256      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

Psalm  the  second  week  of  my  probation  for 
trial,  and  I  was  anxious  for  the  time  to  come. 
Wesley  has  beautifully  said : 

"With  thee  conversing,  we  forget 

All  time,  and  toil,  and  care  ; 

L/abor  is  rest,  and  pain  is  sweet, 

If  thou,  my  God,  art  there. ' ' 

Such  is  true  of  Christian  experience.  "We 
joy  in  tribulation."  In  the  world  the  Christian 
has  trouble,  but  in  Jesus  has  peace^"peace 
which  passeth  understanding-,  which  the  world 
can  neither  give  nor  take  away." 

The  time  for  my  trial  came.  The  house  was 
filled  with  the  Saints.  I  had  not  talked  with  any 
one  on  the  subject ;  all,  outside  of  myself  and 
wife,  were  as  silent  as  death;  no  one  dared,  if 
they  had  been  inclined,  to  offer  a  word  of  com 
fort,  for  fear  of  censure  falling  upon  themselves. 
Salt  Lake  at  that  time  was  a  despotic  priesthood 
and  subdued,  downcast  religious  slaves.  Sun- 
day, at  2  p.  m.,  was  the  timer  appointed.  Bro. 
Stewart,  my  last  would-be  adviser,  was  close 
on  my  right.  All  looked  anxious  and  somewhat 
excited,  but  I  was  calm  as  a  summer's  day. 
Invited  by  the  president  of  the  Elders'  Quo- 
rum to  take  the  stand,  and  state  my  reasons  to 


Observations  on  Polygamy.  257 

the  Elders'  Quorum  for  my  neglect  of  duty— 
for  this  was  the  charge  against  me — it  was  a 
pleasure  for  me  to  answer  the  request.  I  saw 
by  the  tone  of  voice  and  conduct  of  the  presi- 
dent that  I  had  his  hearty  sympathy.  I  first 
gave  a  brief  outline  of  my  uniting  with  the 
church  in  England  ;  how  the  important  claims 
had  attracted  my  serious  attention,  and  having 
failed  to  gain  a  personal  knowledge  that  this 
latter-day  work  was  of  God,  in  the  strict  sense, 
I  had  united  with  it  for  the  purpose  of  proving 
it.  I  hene  contrasted  the  Mormon  with  the 
Christian  in  the  days  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
apostles,  showing  that  the  claims  of  the  Mor- 
mon church  were  equal  in  all  that  could  be 
called  miraculous  and  divine  to  that  of  primi- 
tive Christianity.  I  here  showed  how  Jesus 
and  his  disciples  wrought  wonderful  miracles, 
healing  the  sick,  opening  the  eyes  of  the  actu- 
ally blind,  unstopping  the  deaf  ear,  making  the 
decrepit  and  lame  to  walk,  and  the  dead  to  re- 
turn to  life.  I  now  showed  that  this  latter- 
day  work  laid  claim  to  all  such  miraculous,  di- 
vine power,  and  as  such  I  had  become  a  mem- 
ber of  the  church  in  all  sincerity  to  have  proven 


258      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

to  me  the  claims  of  the  church.  I  stated  that 
I  had  had  some  little  experience  with  and  in 
the  church  in  England ;  had  looked  for  proof 
of  the  claims  of  the  church  there,  but  had  to 
confess  they  were  not  manifest,  and  I  had  come 
to  Zion  to  demonstrate  here  what  I  was  unable 
to  prove  in  England.  I  was  free  ta  admit  there 
might  be  weakness  and  ignorance  on  my  own 
part,  and  that  in  some  things  I  might  be  mis- 
taken, but  many  things  had  come  under  my  ob- 
servation in  connection  with  the  church,  which 
I  wished  to  state  as  the  cause  of  my  lack  of 
faith  in  the  church,  and  which  were  the  cause  of 
my  neglected  church  duty.  I  stated  here,  by 
some  means  this  latter-day  work  had  never 
been  proven,  in  the  absolute  sense,  to  be  what 
it  would  call  for ;  that  with  regard  to  the  mi- 
raculous, divine  power  of  God  in  its  behalf ,  I 
had  never  personally  witnessed  anything  to 
confirm  me  in  that  direction  ;  that  I  had  min- 
gled with  the  church  for  some  four  or  five  years, 
in  England,  in  our  journeyings,  and  here  in 
Zion,  and  while  I  had  witnessed  many  attempts 
where  divine  power  was  necessary,  and  in  many 
instances  where  the  priesthood  had  made  at- 


Observations  on  Polygamy.  259 

tempts,  but  that  nothing*  had  been  manifest  of 
a  divine  or  miraculous  character.  I  showed 
here  I  was  not  responsible  for  the  claims  of  this 
latter-day  work,  nor  its  failure  to  prove  or  dem- 
onstrate its  claims  ;  that  all  I  could  do  was  to 
honestly  investigate,  and  admit  or  deny  the 
facts  which  were  plain  before  me.  I  then  gave 
some  of  the  absolute  failures  which  occurred 
in  England,  as  before  recorded  there.  I  also 
gave  a  number  of  failures  which  had  occurred 
on  our  journey  from  England ;  the  cholera 
cases,  patriarchal  predictions  and  their  abso- 
lute disproval  by  actual  death  of  the  parties, 
the  non-healing  of  the  sick,  etc.  I  last  of  all 
called  their  attention  to  what  had  but  recently 
taken  place  in  our  city,  and  which  was  known 
to  all.  A  brother,  Michel,  who  had  lain  sick 
for  some  months,  and  had  been  anointed  by  the 
leading  priesthood  of  the  place  ;  but  divine  heal- 
ing- had  proven  a  failure.  This  case  had  at- 
tracted some  attention  in  the  city,  but  the  poor, 
afflicted  brother  died,  and  proved  the  gift  of 
healing  in  Zion  a  failure.  But  the  case  of  the 
city  president's  daughter-in-law  was  the  cli- 
max for  them.  It  had  occurred  but  a  short 


260      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

time  before,  and  they  were  all  yet  fully  under 
the  impression.  I  g*ave  it  to  them  in  all  its 
simple  facts  ;  how  that  Bro.  Hovey,  that  prom- 
inent priestly  brother,  had  predicted  and  pro- 
nounced on  that  sick  and  afflicted  young-  wife 
the  absolute  reverse  of  what  befell  her — that 
she  should  be  the  mother  of  a  daug'hter,  and 
that  mother  and  daughter  should  live  together, 
and  both  become  mothers  in  Zion— in  modern 
Israel — and  the  young-,  sick  wife  died  that 
night,  and  never  became  a  mother.  In  calling- 
the  attention  of  the  audience  to  these  facts,  but 
recently  transpiring-  before  them,  and  which 
were  fresh  in  all  their  minds,  made  them  feel 
restless  and  nervous.  Having-  spoken  about  an 
hour  and  a  half,  I  was  invited  by  the  president 
to  close  my  remarks.  I  declared  at  this  point, 
having-  been  connected  with  the  church  some 
lour  or  five  years,  and  having-  been  a  close  ob- 
server, that  my  experience  and  observations 
among-  them  as  a  people  had  left  me  weak  in 
the  faith,  and  that  such  failure  on  the  part  of 
the  church,  viewed  in  the  lig-ht  of  their  claims, 
left  me  in  doubt,  which  was  the  cause  of  my 
neglect  of  duty  in  the  church  and  my  religious 


Observations  on  Polygamy.  261 

negligence  among*  them  as  a  people ;  and,  to  be 
candid  with  myself  and  the  church,  I  could  not 
do  or  be  otherwise.  I  had  the  very  best  of  at- 
tention. 

My  remarks  were  then  considered,  first  by 
the  president  of  the  Quorum,  Bro.  Adar.  He 
said  he  believed  Bro.  Kirby  was  sincere,  and 
that  his  statements  in  regard  to  his  disappoint 
ments  in  the  church,  the  failures  on  the  part  of 
the  church,  were  the  cause  of  his  doubts  and 
inactivity  in  relation  to  the  church,  and  that 
Satan  was,  no  doubt,  using  them  as  a  tempta- 
tion against  me,  but  in  the  end,  he  had  no  doubt 
but  I  should  Come  out  all  right,  and  be  a  useful 
brother  in  the  church.  He  then  turned  his  re- 
marks on  the  church  and  its  unfaithfulness  as 
the  cause  of  such  lack  of  power — divine  power 
—in  the  church,  and  in  return  the  evil  influence 
it  was  having  on  such  young  brethren  as  Bro. 
Kirby.  He  then  gave  a  warm  exhortation  to 
the  Quorum  as  such,  to  be  more  faithful,  com- 
plimenting me  for  my  honest,  simple  statement 
of  facts,  hoping  that  God,  in  his  goodness  and 
in  due  time,  would  deliver  me  out  of  such  a 
seeming  temptation. 


262      Mor  monism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

The  natural  brother  of  the  president  next 
spoke.  His  remarks  ran  in  almost  the  same 
channel  as  the  president's,  only  he  appeared  to 
give  me  more  credit  for  honesty  and  sincerity, 
and  to  be  more  in  sympathy  with  me,  a  doubt- 
ing", tempted  brother.  He  closed  with  a  proph- 
ecy in  my  behalf,  saying*  the  Lord  would  soon 
deliver  me  out  of  such  a  temptation,  and  would 
make  known  to  me  his  true  church,  and  that  in 
the  future  I  should  become  a  useful  man  of  God 
in  his  kingdom.  He  evidently  saw  the  force  of 
my  remarks,  and  that  there  was  something- 
wrong-  in  or  about  the  church,  and  exhorted  the 
brethren  to  more  faithfulness  to  duty. 

The  next  to  speak  was  Bro.  Stewart,  the 
party  whom  I  ever  suspected  of  having-  me 
broug-ht  to  trial.  He  responded  by  saying-  he 
believed  Bro.  Kirby  was  an  honest  man,  that 
is,  "he  is  an  honest  farmer,  and  would  not  take 
a  picayune  from  any  man  without  a  just  rec- 
ompense ;  but  as  to  his  remarks  and  arg-uments, 
they  are  just  as  honest  as  hell.  The  whole 
of  his  remarks  are  a  direct  drive  at  the  claims 
of  the  church."  At  this  the  whole  house  rose 
to  their  feet.  But  Bro.  S.  said  not  another 


Observations  on  Polygamy.  263 

word.  The  whole  congregation  was  excited, 
and  looked  stormy,  some  crowding-  around  me 
to  give  in  their  testimony  how  they  knew  the 
church  was  of  God  ;  some  of  my  Old  Country 
people,  who  had  been  in  Salt  Lake  but  a  few 
months,  rushed  up  to  tell  of  miraculous  heal- 
ing ;  but  they  proved  to  be  only  new  and  fresh, 
for  in  a  short  time  after  they  were  anxious  to 
get  away.  But  in  the  midst  of  this  confusion 
I  felt  I  was  not  in  any  danger.  At  this  time 
Bro.  Fairbanks,  first  counselor  to  the  bishop, 
rose,  requesting  order,  and  making  a  proposi- 
tion and  a  prediction,  saying,  "If  Bro.  Kirby 
will  re-observe  the  order  of  the  church,  re-enter 
the  church,  he  shall  know  for  himself  that  the 
church  is  of  God,  according  to  its  claims,"  and 
I  at  once  responded  that  I  was  willing  to  try 
it.  At  that,  the  meeting  was  dismissed  in 
quiet,  good  order.  I  called  upon  Bro.  Fair- 
banks in  about  a  week  after,  but  he  appeared 
to  be  indifferent  about  the  matter,  and  so  it 
was  dropped. 

Bro.  W.  McLellen,  brother-in-law  to  the 
young  wife*  who  had  died,  and  first  counselor 
to  the  president  of  our  Elder's  Quorum,  said 


264      Mormon-ism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

to  the  president,  a  few  days  after,  that  Bro. 
Kirby  must  not  be  allowed  to  talk  in  public 
anymore,  for,  said  he,  "Every  young*  man  in 
the  city  believes  him." 

After  this  everything1  was  quiet.  No  one  in 
any  way  approached  me  about  the  matter.  No 
doubt  there  were  many  surmisings  as  to  what 
would  be  the  outcome  of  Bro.  Fairbank's  predic- 
tion, but  the  matter  to  all  appearances  died 
down.  Bro.  Stewart  was  silent,  and  looked 
rather  reserved  and  sullen.  I  could  have  pre- 
dicted at  the  time  that  Bro.  Fairbanks'  predic- 
tion would  never  come  true,  had  it  been  safe 
or  prudent  to  do  so ;  but  that  part  died  away  at 
that  time,  and  future  developments  showed  the 
results. 

I  feel  astonished,  looking*  back  on  this  part 
of  my  Mormon  experience  and  observation,  how 
so  many  of  the  Mormons  themselves  can  possi- 
bly sustain  a  system  with  so  much  pretension 
and  so  little  real  fact ;  with  so  many  absolute  fail- 
ures, so  manifest  to  themselves  and  to  all 
around  them.  Surely  such  a  system  of  religion 
is  a  sent  delusion,  with  the  power  of  Satan  in 
it,  "to  deceive,  if  possible,  the  very  elect." 


Observations  on  Polygamy.  265 

Bro.  Stewart,  my  would-be  instructor  and 
accuser,  was  a  polygamist — had  two  wives. 
He  was  one  of  my  nearest  neighbors.  The 
whole  family  was  wonderfully  reserved  and  ex- 
clusive. He  had  special  reasons  for  defending 
Mormonism,  as  all  polygamists  must  have,  for 
their  condition,  with  a  plurality  of  wives,  un- 
fits them  for  any  society  or  community  profess- 
ing the  Christian  religion,  at  home  or  abroad. 
The  system,  or  adoption,  of  polygamy  in  Utah 
makes  those  who  adopt  it  a  peculiar  people,  and 
in  a  peculiar  manner  binds  them  to  the  church. 
On  this  point,  the  heads  of  the  church  were 
urging,  at  this  time,  what  they  were  pleased  to 
call  celestial  marriage.  Polygamy,  as  a  prin- 
ciple and  practice,  at  that  time,  was  being  ex- 
posed and  condemned  by  all  Christian  people, 
and  the  heads  of  the  church,  who  were  mostly 
polygamists,  were  urging  its  adoption,  know- 
ing full  well  that  every  one  who  would  adopt 
such  was  thereby  bound  to  the  system  by  a  two- 
fold cord.  On  the  principle  that  "misery  loves 
company,"  the  polygamic  part  of  the  system 
was  being  pressed  on  the  people.  It  is  said, 
"company  in  distress  makes  trouble  less."  So 


266      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

it  was  at  this  time.  The  heads  of  the  church 
were  anxious  for  company  in  polygamy ;  they 
had  many  recruiting"  officers  at  work  increasing- 
their  polyg^amic  ranks.  Bro.  Stewart,  being- 
one  of  those  polygfamic  brethren,  it  could  but 
be  supposed  he  would  tenaciously  defend  the 
church.  Polyg-amy  once  adopted  unfits  the 
persons,  or  family,  for  the  common  associations 
of  life. 

With  regfard  to  polyg-amy  as  a  practice  among- 
the  Mormons,  I  look  upon  it  as  a  miserable,  de- 
grading- injustice  to  women,  and  a  corruption 
to  both  men  and  women  who  adopt  it.  It  is  in 
the  strictest  sense  a  domestic  or  family  intruder. 
While  in  Salt  Lake  I  witnessed  its  working's. 
Families  who  lived  happily  before  a  second 
wife  was  introduced,  were  torn  asunder  on  their 
introduction  and  former  marriag-e  relations  sev- 
ered. I  know  whereof  I  speak.  I  noticed 
many  young-  women,  and  especially  where  they 
were  comely  and  g-ood-lookingf,  were  taken  by 
the  leading-  ones  of  the  church  ;  and  those  pretty 
g-irls,  who  were  entitled  to  a  few  years  of  happy, 
youthful  life  among-  such  as  themselves,  were 
thrust  by  parental  influence  and  persuasion,  or 


Observations  on  Polygamy.  267 

drawn  by  priestly  position  and  influence,  into 
those  old  polygamic  families,  and  they  were 
lost  to  all  that  was  lively  and  happy  of  a  social 
character  ever  after.  Do  but  think  of  a  young 
girl  in  her  teens  going*  into  a  family  as  a  fourth 
or  a  sixth  wife,  as  I  have  seen,  where  some  of 
the  first  or  former  wives  already  had  several 
grandchildren  !  What  could  such  young-  wives 
expect  but  to  become  servants  to  the  older  wives 
to  do  kitchen  work?  How  could  such  young- 
wives  enjoy  the  old  grandmothers  as  their 
equals  in  the  domestic  circle  and  as  wives  of  the 
same  old  grandfather,  their  husband  ?  No  ;  it 
is  out  of  line  with  the  nature  of  things.  Had  not 
such  old,  lustful  grandfathers  gotten  into  some 
sort  of  a  second  or  third  childhood,  or  something 
still  worse,  they  would  not  allow  their  dotage 
thoughts  to  run  off  in  that  direction,  as  to  make 
such  proposals.  And  then  the  women — poor, 
misled  women — what  can  I  say  for  them? 
Surely,  they  must  be  "the  weaker  vessel,"  for 
ever  submitting  to  such.  How  susceptible  is 
fallen  humanity,  both  male  and  female,  to  mis- 
leading's  and  deceivings  by  their  fellows  ! 

I  knew  some  of  these  lovely,  happy  girls,  who 


268      Mormojusm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

left  their  enjoyable  homes  and  entered  these 
stale  old  polygamic  families,  and  ever  after  ap- 
peared to  be  dead  to  social  life  and  happy  sur- 
roundings. I  look  upon  the  Mormon  polygamic 
practice  as  an  absolute  masculine  fraud,  dic- 
tated by  carnal  lust,  perpetuated  and  kept  up 
for  the  same.  I  cannot  think  that  the  men  of 
the  Mormon  church  are  any  more  free  from  lust 
than  was  the  weak  and  over-tempted  David, 
when  he  ordered  Uriah  to  be  put  in  front  of  the 
battle,  so  his  life  might  be  taken,  that  he,  in 
return,  might  take  Uriah's  beautiful  wife, 
Bathsheba,  and  for  which  wicked,  lustful  act 
it  was  pronounced  that  "  the  sword  of  the  Lord 
shall  never  leave  thy  house,"  and  for  which 
David  suffered  all  his  remaining  days.  Mor- 
mon polygamy  is  no  better  than  was  Solomon, 
with  his  seven  hundred  wives  and  his  three 
hundred  concubines.  The  whole,  ancient  and 
modern,  is  but  low,  brute  passion.  There  was 
an  old  man  in  Payson,  but  who  was  on  a  mis- 
sion to  England  at  the  time  I  went  there,  who 
had  two  wives  struggling  to  make  their  living 
while  he  was  on  his  mission.  At  this  time  the 
first  wife  had  a  married  son  by  him,  and  had 


Observations  on  Polygamy.  269 

several  grandchildren.  The  two  wives  had 
several  children  by  the  same  old  grand-pap.  His 
first  wife  had  a  widowed  sister,  and  this  widow 
had  a  daughter  some  eighteen  }^ears  of  age, 
making-  their  own  living".  The  old  man  re- 
turned from  his  mission  in  the  fall  of  1855,  and 
brought  with  him  a  widow  from  Sunderland, 
England.  This  widow,  too,  had  a  daughter 
some  eighteen  or  twenty  years  of  age.  Short- 
ly after  his  arrival  at  home  he  married  his  first 
wife's  widowed  sister ;  he  shortly  after  this 
married  that  wife's  daughter,  and  a  short 
time  after  this  he  married  the  widow  he  had 
brought  from  Sunderland,  England,  and  short- 
ly after  this  he  married  this  widow's  grown 
daughter ;  and  now  the  old  polygamic  priest 
has  six  wives,  who  said,  as  the  Bible  would 
have  it  (Isa.  iv :  1)  :  *  *  We  will  eat  our  own 
bread  and  wear  our  own  apparel,  only  let  us  be 
called  by  thy  name  to  take  away  our  reproach." 
This  family  lived  all  together  in  the  same  quar- 
ters, and  small  at  that.  Think  of  a  number 
of  sons  and  daughters  growing-  up,  and  being- 
raised  in  a  family  like  that !  Four  aged  women 
as  wives,  two  of  whom  having  grown  daugh- 


270      Marmoriism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

ters,  who  were  wives  of  the  same  husband, 
all  sharing-,  or  should  share,  equal  attention 
and  affection  as  wives  of  the  same  old  modern 
Solomon  ! 

I  can  but  think  how  those  two  young  wives 
would  steal  away  the  affection  and  -attention  of 
their  mothers'  husband,  and  leave  their  poor 
old  mothers  to  live  off  the  crumbs  which  mig-ht 
happen  to  fall  from  the  old  man's  table.  I  can 
see,  in  my  imagination,  when  the  old  man  was 
smiling-  on  those  two  young-  wives,  how  the 
four  old  ones  would  be  sig-hing-,  and  sing-ing- 
"Home,  sweet  home,  there  is  no  place  like 
home."  It  would  appear  to  the  writer  that 
ang-els  could  not  endure  such  an  unnatural  as- 
sociation as  that  must  have  been,  to  say  noth- 
ing- of  weak,  fallen  women.  Just  how  the  old 
priestly,  moder'n  Solomon  managed  his  part, 
eternity  only  will  declare.  The  old  man,  to 
all  outward  appearances,  acted  after  his  mar- 
riag-e  combine  as  thoug-h  the  number  of  wives 
was  his  wealth,  for  he  acted  in  the  city,  and  I 
suppose  in  his  family,  as  thoug-h  he  was  the 
rooster  and  had  full  charg-e  of  the  dung-hill. 

This  is  a   specimen  of  polyg-amic   Mormon- 


Observations  on  Polygamy.  271 

ism.  But  is  there  any  of  the  spirit  of  Jesus 
Christ  about  such?  Is  such  in  any  way  akin 
to  the  Christian  religion  ?  Think  of  six  women 
who  could  be  induced  to  allow  themselves  to 
become,  at  the  same  time,  the  wives  of  one 
man,  and  then  you  see  what  Mormonism  has 
done  for  women.  Some  of  the  women  have 
taken  places  in  some  of  these  old  polygamic 
families  as  wives  up  into  the  teens,  "Miss 
Elixa,"  for  instance,  "Brigham's  nineteenth." 
I  had  an  opportunity  to  look  into  and  witness 
the  workings  of  some  of  these  polygamic  fam- 
ilies in  Utah,  and  I  declare  I  never  saw  a  real 
cheerful  family  of  that  order ;  yea,  more.  I 
never  saw  a  real  cheerful  ray  in  any  one  of 
them  when  all  together.  To  me  they  always 
looked  as  though  they  were  under  some  pecu- 
liar restraint  toward  each  other  and  toward  all 
those  around  them.  They  always  acted  as 
though  they  had  taken  some  peculiar  vows,  and 
by  such  had  become  distinct  from  other  people, 
as  nuns  of  a  Catholic  convent.  And  yet  there 
are  families  in  Salt  Lake — monogamic,  or  the 
one-wife  families — who  are  as  sociable  and 
lively  as  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.  But 


272      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

I  have  seen  families  ruined  and  broken  up,  who 
were  once  happy,  by  taking*  into  them  a  second 
wife.  There  is  nothing  in  the  Bible  that  ap- 
proves the  polygamic  system.  It  is  not  com- 
manded. It  is  not  enjoined  as  a  law  of  God. 
We  are  never  admonished  by  the  Bible  to  take 
a  plurality  of  wives.  It  is  not  of  God.  Na- 
tions, ancient  and  modern,  have  and  do  prac- 
tice it ;  but  it  is  no  part  of  the  Ohristian  relig- 
ion, and  is  not  in  harmony  with  the  best  and 
highest  interests  of  man  and  wife.  It  is  a  do- 
mestic curse.  It  should  be  condemned  by  all, 
and  should  be  blotted  out  from  every  home  and 
family.  As  in  the  case  of  David,  it  should  be 
punished  severely,  and  as  in  the  case  of  Solo- 
mon, it  should  be  stamped  out,  even  should  it 
divide  a  kingdom.  Any  one  who  will  read  the 
history  of  Joseph  Smith  at  Nauvoo,  will  see 
that  the  bottom  cause  of  his  death  was  more 
attributable  to  his  polygamic  tendencies-— his 
proposing  to  have  sealed  to  him  other  men's 
wives  and  daughters — than  to  any  other  one 
cause.  I  am  far  from  believing  that  Jo- 
seph Smith,  when  he  instigated  Jacobs  to  se- 
lect from  the  Old  Testament  the  passages  of 


Observations  on  Polygamy.  273 

scripture  which  related  to  polygamy — celestial 
marriage — was  moved  by  pure-minded  virtue. 
No ;  he  had  come  at  this  time  into  prominent 
notice  and  influence  at  Nauvoo,  and  the  baser 
part  of  his  make-up  was  now  being*  developed. 
His  natural  carnal  tendencies,  under  these  cir- 
cumstances, were  showing'  out  the  real  man, 
and  wishing*  now  to  indulge  his  carnal  passions, 
he  instituted  what  he  was  pleased  to  call  celes- 
tial marriage — marriage  which  was  to  bind  the 
parties  in  the  world  to  come,  but  which  admitted 
the  indulgence  of  the  baser  passions  in  this 
life.  Smith's  desire  to  be  sealed  to  other  men's 
wives  and  daug-hters  broug-ht  him  into  trouble 
with  many  of  his  own  brethren,  who  took  issue 
with  him,  and  became  his  worst  enemies,  and 
no  doubt  had  much  to  do  in  causing1  his  death. 
I  g'ather  this  from  the  testimony  of  Smith's 
own  friends.  He  suggested  the  polyg^amic  doc- 
trine, and  evidently  practiced  it  himself,  ac- 
cording* to  the  testimony  of  those  who  were  able 
to  know.  He  was  soon  followed  by  others — his 
co-workers — who  were  of  like  passions,  and 
though  he  saw  evidently  that  the  polyg'amic 

system    was    leading*    to   the  worst    of   conse- 
18 


2V4      Mormontsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

quences  among"  them  as  a  people,  yet  he  had  in- 
troduced it  into  the  church,  and  like  the  lighted 
match  to  the  powder,  it  could  not  be  controlled  ; 
and  while  some  were  easily  led  into  it,  many 
were  very  much  opposed  to  it.  Yet  it  brought 
its  evil  consequences  to  the  church ;  but  to 
Smith  it  brought  death.  "Sin  was  not  to  go 
unpunished." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

LEAVING     PAYSON  —  VISIT     TO     FRIENDS  —  THE 
RESULT. 


INCE  my  being-  summoned  before  my  El- 
ders'  Quorum,  to  answer  for  indifference 
and  neglect  of  church  duty,  everything1  as  far 
as  I  could  see  was  perfectly  quiet.  No  one  ap- 
proached me  on  the  subject  nor  inquired  about 
the  results. 

I  had  sold  my  title  to  the  use  of  a  piece  of 
land  I  had  bought.  There  were  no  govern- 
ment titles  ;  we  simply  had  personal  claims 
from  each  other  to  use  the  land.  I  had  sold 
my  house  and  lot,  and  had  turned  what  I  could 
g-et  tog-ether  into  a  horse-team  and  wag-on,  and 
it  was  easily  surmised  I  was  fixing-  to  leave. 
I  kept  my  own  counsel  very  close.  I  thoug-ht  a 
dead  silence  would  be  my  best  hold,  and  while 
I  said  nothing-  to  any  one  about  leaving-  or  stay- 
ing-, no  one  said  anything-  to  me.  I  had  been 
strictly  g-uarded  in  tny  deportment  among-  them 
to  gain  and  maintain  their  respect  and  g-ood 

(275) 


276      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

will.  In  all  that  related  to  the  common  affairs 
of  life,  I  felt  sure  I  had  their  respect. 

Our  nearest  neighbors  were  our  warmest 
friends,  and  we  had  formed  some  very  desirable 
acquaintances.  For,  religion  excepted,  the 
people  make  good  neighbors  when  treated  right 
in  return.  Many  of  the  more  humble  and 
poorer  class  realize  the  many  disadvantages 
they  sustain  in  that  country ;  but  many  are  cir- 
cumstantially bound  up  in  family  relations  and 
many  other  respects. 

There  were  no  railroads  in  Utah  at  this  time 
and  it  was  quite  an  undertaking  to  get  an  outfit 
and  then  make  twelve  hundred  miles  of  jour- 
ney. But  my  wife  and  I  had  deliberated  on  all 
this  going  back  to  the  states,  after  we  became 
fully  persuaded  of  the  fallacy  of  the  Mormon 
system  of  religion,  and  determined  to  make  the 
attempt,  if,  in  our  undertaking,  our  bones 
should  bleach  on  the  plains.  I  felt — give  me 
my  choice  and  freedom  in  religion,  or  give  me 
death — and  such  is  my  mind  to-day  ;  and  I  trust 
and  cherish  the  thought  that  it  may  be  to  the 
end  of  my  life.  I  feel  I  cannot,  I  will  not  be 
any  one's  slave  in  matters  of  religion.  I  as- 


Leaving"  Pay  son — the  Result.  277 

sume  my  own  responsibility  to  my  own  God. 
"No  mediator  between  myself  and  my  God, 
only  the  man  Christ  Jesus."  I  am  fully  per- 
suaded that  no  one  man  can  do  more  than  his 
duty,  and  that  it  will  take  the  whole  of  his 
duty  done  to  save  himself  and  can  have  none  of 
the  supererogation  to  appropriate  to  his  fellow. 
"Every  man  shall  give  an  account  of  himself 
to  God,"  and  "shall  be  judged  according  to 
the  deeds  done  in  the  body,  whether  they  be 
good  or  evil." 

As  far  as  personal  spiritual  religion  goes, 
many,  very  many  of  the  Mormons  have  no 
knowledge  of  such.  Mormonism  has  reached 
and  raised  a  class  who  know  nothing  of  religion 
save  their  Mormonism.  They  are  Mormons  if 
anything ;  if  not  Mormons  nothing,  for  they 
know  and  care  to  know  nothing  else.  But  I 
knew  it  would  not  do  to  contend  or  endeavor  to 
refute  them.  I  should  have  thought  it  as  safe 
and  profitable  to  have  engaged  in  a  mission  at 
the  headquarters  of  his  Satanic  majesty  as  to 
commence  against  the  Mormons  at  that  time  in 
Utah  ;  and  I  do  not  know  but  Utah  Mormonism 
at  that  time  might  have  been  the  headquarters 


278      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

of  Diabolus.  To  have  opposed  them  at  that 
time  would  have  been  equal  to  John  Brown  at 
Harper's  Ferry. 

But  at  this  time  I  was  not  the  only  one  who 
was  dissatisfied  with  the  Mormons  and  their 
relig-ion.  There  were  four  others  whose  minds 
were  made  up  to  leave.  A  man  and  his  wife 
named  Sheffield  and  two  single  men.  Mrs. 
Sheffield  had  been  married  twice.  Her  first 
husband  had  been  a -prominent  Mormon,  and 
with  him  she  had  taken  the  Temple  degrees  of 
Mormonism.  But  she  had  married  Mr.  Shef- 
field, a  man  who  was  weak  in  the  Mormon  faith 
and  she,  too,  had  become  a  weak  sister  in  the 
faith,  and  with  her  husband  was  preparing1  to 
leave  the  Mormons  and  their  Zion.  I  had  never 
taken  Temple  degrees  and  was  somewhat  anx- 
ious to  know  the  process.  I  had  often  asked 
her  to  tell  some  of  its  working's,  but  she  never 
would.  She  was  leaving*  the  Mormon  church 
for  final,  believing-  the  system  as  such  to  be  a 
delusion,  but  she  would  not  divulge  the  Temple 
secrets.  At  times  I  thought  she  would  do  so, 
but  agfain  she  would  falter,  would  shake  her 
head  and  decline.  She  would  intimate  there 


Leaving"  Pay  son — the  Result.  2,79 

was  something*  very  serious  about  it,  that  was 
not  best  for  her  to  divulge  ;  that  the  obligations 
were  of  a  serious,  secret  character.  She  was 
withal  a  grand  little  woman  and  a  desirable 
anti-Mormon  sister  for  my  wife.  While  in 
Payson  we  occasionally  enjoyed  ourselves  in 
private  and  almost  secret  visits — there  being 
six  of  us  all  told.  Of  the  two  single  men  one 
was  a  Scotchman  and  the  other  English. 

Becoming  fully  persuaded  in  my  early  Mor- 
mon experience  and  observations  that  the  sys- 
tem was  a  human  religious  fraud,  I  did  not 
wish  to  take  their  higher  degrees  ;  for,  like  the 
Masonic  order,  Mormonism  is  a  system  of  se- 
cret degrees.  I  have  always  'had  a  profound 
abhorrence  for  red  tape  ceremony  when  it  is 
just  for  the  sake  of  doing  something  to  be 
doing. 

What  I  have  learned  of  Temple  ceremonies 
among  the  Mormons  is  from  Miss  Eliza,  Brig- 
ham's  nineteenth  wife,  and  John  D.  Lee.  For 
in  Mormonism,  like  all  secret  orders,  secrets  are 
only  to  be  learned  inside  the  order  and  not  outside. 
But  I  am  sure  when  any  man,  or  set  of  men, 
claim  that  God  has  made  known  and  entrusted 


280      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

to  them  secrets  and  ordinances  to  dispense  to 
others  as  means  necessary  to  their  salvation, 
that  all  such  men  and  claims  are  pure  human 
frauds  sought  to  be  palmed  off  on  their  fellows  ; 
and  when  the  Mormons  claim  that  all  their 
religious  degrees,  or  any  of  them,  more  than 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  repentance 
towards  God  and  man  are  essential  to  or  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  salvation  as  the  will  of 
God,  they  should  be  made  to  furnish  the  proof 
or  be  absolutely  rejected.  Mormonism  in  point 
of  human  ceremony  and  human  secret  degrees 
is  second  to  no  other  relig-ious  system.  It  has 
in  it  enoug-h  human  formula  and  ceremonies  to 
save  a  thousand  fallen  worlds  like  this  of  ours, 
if  human  formality  could  save  men  from  their 
sins  and  reconcile  them  to  God. 

I  had  by  this  time,  April,  1856,  everything- 
ready  to  move.  I  had  made  no  preparation  for 
spring-  or  summer  work  at  Payson.  I  told  my 
friends  I  should  leave  Payson  as  a  locality,  and 
I  should  look  around  and  see  if  I  could  not  find 
some  place  or  thing-  which  mig-ht  suit  me  better. 
The  other  four  apostates  (for  that  was  what 
they  were  pleased  to  name  us)  had  made  up 


Leaving"  Pay  son — the  Result.  281 

their  minds  to  go  to  California  ;  but  I  was  fully 
made  up  to  return  East,  to  Kansas  City  or  near 
that  point  on  the  Missouri  River.  I  had  seen 
and  admired  the  rich,  fertile  soil  and  the  beau- 
tiful country,  and  was  sure  I  could  do  well  in 
that  part  of  Missouri.  None  but  those  g'oing- 
to  leave  offered  to  talk  with  me  about  my  leav- 
ing*. In  fact,  every  one  was  afraid  of  his  fellow 
above  him  in  office.  Those  who  were  truly 
our  friends  at  heart  did  not  dare  to  manifest  it 
to  others.  Mormon  priestly  authority  at  that 
time  had  everything  under  its  heel. 

Finally,  one  beautiful  morning*  in  April,  I 
fixed  the  cover  on  my  wag-on  and  got  ready  to 
start.  I  had  everything-  ready ;  a  number  of 
the  neig-hbors  made  it  in  their  way  to  pass  by 
as  we  were  about  ready  to  start,  and  as  they 
passed  bid  us  gfood-bye.  Evidently  they  were 
afraid  to  stop  and  be  seen  friendly  towards  us 
when  leaving-.  I  speak  this  as  it  relates  to  the 
men  ;  the  women  were  more  g-allant  and  daring*. 
They  came  around  my  wife  and  demonstrated 
their  friendship  and  sympathy,  showing-  their 
regret  at  our  departure. 

But  we  moved  out  of  the  city  feeling-  we  were 


282      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

as  "  speckled  birds  "  in  their  midst  and  fear- 
fully conjecturing'  what  might  follow.  I  may 
say  here  that  it  took  all  the  nerve  I  could  con- 
trol at  this  time  to  equal  the  occasion,  for  I 
knew  not  the  secret  workings  of  the  Saints. 
I  knew  that  they  were  capable  of  doing  any- 
thing* that  would  injure  myself  and  family 
should  they  in  their  secret  councils  have  de- 
creed such ;  but  in  this  we  were  fully  made  up 
—religious  liberty  or  death.  My  faith  and 
trust  was  in  the  living  God,  and  when  I  could 
keep  my  mind  steady  on  that  thought,  I  was 
easy  and  happy ;  but  occasionally  my  condition 
and  surroundings  would  come  in  my  mind  and  I 
would  be  fearful. 

I  was  the  first  to  leave  of  the  six  apostates 
intending  to  do  so ;  the  others  remaining  could 
watch  the  results.  This  part  of  our  Mormon 
experience  was  trying.  We  were  making  open 
daylight  ventures  and  we  knew  not,  could  not 
know,  what  was  decreed  in  the  mind  of  an  over- 
ruling providence,  or  in  the  minds  of  the  higher 
priesthood  in  Payson.  To  ourselves  it  was  a 
leap  in  the  dark  ;  we  knew  not  where  we  should 
land, -but  we  were  determined  to  make  the  ven- 


Leaving-  Pay  son — the  Result.  283 

ture.  I  knew  it  was  a  strange,  daring-  move  on 
our  own  part,  and  that  there  would  be  strange 
conjectures  about  us  on  the  part  of  those 
friendly  toward  us.  •!  could  not  know  what 
the  Bishop  and  his  counselors  and  others  about 
him  had  decreed  in  my  case.  I  knew  according 
to  Mormon  organic  nature  it  had  been  passed 
upon  by  those  in  authority. 

Bishop  Hancock  had  soug'ht  to  turn  an  ac- 
count in  my  tavor  on  dues  for  tithing.  I  had 
objected,  stating  that  I  needed  the  amount  for 
other  necessary  purposes  and  which  he  frankly 
paid  over  to  me.  I  had  taken  this  as  a  favor- 
able omen.  But  while  I  was  now  endeavoring 
to  trust  in  providence  for  my  ultimate  deliver- 
ance, I  was  endeavoring  to  play  my  own  part. 
There  are  peculiar  emotions  and  mental  excite- 
ments about  critical  movements  in  human  life. 
God  and  angels  are  moved  on  the  part  of  right ; 
devils  and  their  angels  are  moved  in  the  wrong. 
There  are  parts  of  human  life  when  each  or 
both  are  moved  in  behalf  of  every  person.  I 
have  felt  this  more  or  less  in  all  critical  circum- 
stances I  have  passed  through.  I  felt  it  very 
forcibly  at  this  time  when  moving  out  of  the 


284      Mormofttsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

city  of  Payson  in  defiance  of  the  Mormon  spirit. 
I  felt  as  thotigh  the  invisible  spirits  were 
moved  for  and  against  me;  but  it  was  now  con- 
quer or  die.  I  knew  not,  *could  not  know  which. 
I  knew  I  had  my  own  part  to  act  in  the  drama 
of  human  life,  and  I  purposed  to  do  it. 

We  drove  out  of  the  city  and  directed  our 
course  northward,  in  the  direction  of  Salt  Lake 
City.  After  passing*  the  city  limits,  I  felt  for 
first  time  I  was  now  a  lone  traveler  free  of 
Mormonism,  and  while  I  was  liable  to  any  and 
all  the  dangers  by  which  they  might  beset  me, 
I  would  trust  in  God  for  protection,  and  thanked 
God  that  I  was  no  longer  of  them. 

In  passing  out  of  the  city  I  felt  like  a  lone 
bird  passing  the  door  of  its  cage.  I  was  free 
from  Mormonism,  though  yet  among  the  Mor- 
mons. Yet  I  knew  not  what  was  before  me. 
We  had-  yet  some  fears  within.  But  we  were 
now  congratulating  ourselves  that  we  belonged 
to  ourselves  and  our  God,  and  the  Mormons 
had  no  longer  any  claims  upon  us.  We  con- 
sidered ourselves  out  of  the  church  now  and 
no  longer  of  them,  and  from  that  day  to  this 
have  never  regretted  the  fact ;  and  while  we 


Leaving-  Pay  son — the  Result.  285 

may  since  then  have  been  called  Mormons  oc- 
casionally by  people  as  wicked  as  Mormons 
themselves,  we  rejoice  that  we  have  never  been 
of  them  in  any  sense  since  that  time.  But 
with  my  wife  and  our  two  little  baby  boys  in 
the  wag-on,  the  cow  tied  behind  to  give  milk, 
we  hastened  away.  •  . 

We  were  now  expecting*  to  visit  friends  whom 
we  had  assisted  financially  from  England  to 
Salt  Lake,  supposing-  we  might  collect  the 
whole  or  part  of  what  was  due  us.  We  were 
now  entering-  on  what  might  be  called  a  new 
phase  of  life.  We  had  proven  to  our  soul's 
satisfaction  that  Mormonism  was  a  false  re- 
ligion and  we  were  outside  of  an}^  and  all  or- 
ganized religious  sects  ;  and  now  as  at  first  in 
my  religious  life  there  was  nothing  but  God 
and  myself  for  it.  But  we  now  had  to  keep 
our  own  counsels.  We  did  not  dare  to  tell  our 
purposes  and  objects  to  strang-ers,  only  that  we 
were  looking-  for  a  desirable  location  in  which 
to  settle  down.  We  visited  a  few  families 
whose  acquaintance  we  had  made  on  our  way 
from  England  to  Salt  Lake,  but  did  not  dare 
to  say  directly  we  had  abandoned  the  church. 


286      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

We  hastened  on  to  Salt  Lake  City.  Near  the 
city  one  of  the  wheels  of  our  wagon  broke 
down  and  it  was  with  difficulty  we  could  raise 
means  for  repairs.  We  passed  through  the 
city,  only  waiting  to  learn  our  opportunity  for 
company  with  out-going  trains  to  the  East  which 
we  might  join  to  start  across  the  plains  back  to 
the  states. 

Having  learned  that  a  missionary  train  was 
to  start  in  about  a  week,  of  which  Judge  Ken- 
ney  and  his  family,  with  some  others,  were  to 
form  a  part,  we  made  our  arrangements  to 
start  with  them.  But  we  had  to  go  to  the  city 
of  Ogden  to  see  friends  and  collect  funds  due 
us,  as  above  stated. 

We  had  paid  part  of  the  passage  money  of 
the  family  of  Brother  and  Sister  Ledgway  from 
England  to  Salt  Lake.  We  had  not  seen  them 
since  our  first  arrival  in  Salt  Lake  City  and  we 
had  a  two-fold  object  in  visiting  them.  Here 
we  found  Bro.  L.  still  in  the  faith.  He  had 
never  thought  or  taken  part  in  religion,  only 
as  a  Mormon.  Hence,  the  Mormons  had  the 
first  and  only  hold  on  him  as  reg'ards  religious 
thought  or  experience.  But  Sister  L.,  like  my 


Leaving"  Pay  son — the  Result.  287 

wife,  had  no  earthly  use  for  the  Mormons  or 
anything-  that  related  to  the  church.  She  was 
as  much  or  more  anxious  to  leave  than  we  our- 
selves were  ;  and  at  once  we  suggested  to  them, 
as  we  had  been  the  means  of  inducing1  and  assist- 
ing- them  in  g*oing*  there,  we  would,  if  they 
wished,  assist  them  to  return  with  us  to  the 
states.  At  this  proposal  Sister  L.  was  fully 
satisfied  to  return.  But  Bro.  L.  could  not  for 
some  reason  yield  his  consent.  We  remained 
with  them  a  few  days,  having1  g-ot  our  funds  in 
desirable  shape,  and  in  the  meantime  the  two 
women  were  working'  their  utmost  on  Bro.  L. 
to  secure  his  consent  to  return  with  us.  But  it 
was  of  no  use,  and  while  he  would  falter  some 
at  times,  he  finally  decided  to  remain. 

Then  came  the  worst  of  the  trouble.     His 

f 

wife  plead  in  tears,  then  in  threats,  saying"  that 
if  we  left  without  her,  and  she  had  to  stay,  she 
would  drown  herself  in  the  Og"den  River. 
Bro.  Iv.  in  England  had  been  raised  to  and  fol- 
lowed hand- weaving-.  His  wife  was  accus- 
tomed in  England  and  Salt  Lake,  too,  to  make 
most  of  their  living*  by  washing-.  They  had  no 
children.  She  asked  him  to  g'ive  his  consent 


288      Mormpnism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

that  she  might  return  with  us,  and  he  might 
follow  at  his  pleasure.  She  declared  she  would 
rather  leave  Salt  Lake,  return  to  England  or 
elsewhere  and  make  her  own  living  than  remain. 
I  had  intentionally  taken  no  part  in  the  matter 
t  pro  or  con.  I  knew  well  it  would  not  be  safe 
for  me  to  do  otherwise.  But  my  wife's  sym- 
pathy and  anxiety  for  the  woman's  deliverance 
from  Mormon  bondage,  led  her  to  play  an 
active  part  in  the  matter.  I  was  becoming 
afraid  of  evil  results  in  such  a  struggle.  I  was 
there  alone,  an  apostate,  or  a  denouncer  of  the 
church  ;  though  in  this  I  had  been  intentionally 
very  reserved,  for  fear  Bro.  L.  should  turn 
against  me  and  turn  the  Mormon  Danites,  or 
destroying  angels,  loose  upon  me.  I  knew  full 
well,  under  the  circumstances,  he  could  do  it  at 
the  nod  of  his  head 'if  he  felt  the  least  disposed. 
I  knew,  too,  that  all  the  circumstances  were  of 
the  most  favorable  character  then  and  there. 
I  began  to  be  alarmed,  but  did  the  best  in  my 
power  to  convince  him  I  had  nothing  to  do  in 
the  matter,  more  than  I  had.  said  to  him.  If 
they  both  wished  to  leave  Salt  Lake  and  return 
with  us  to  the  states,  I  would  be  willing  to 


Leaving"  Pay  son — the  Result.  289 

share  what  I  had  with  them  to  that  end.  I 
felt  sure  all  this  time  I  had  his  confidence. 
But  my  wife,  woman-like,  was  more  demonstra- 
tive and  against  his  own  inclinations  urged  him 
to  consent,  and  of  course  made  Sister  Iv.  more 
anxious  to  go. 

Bro.  L.  by  this  time  realized  our  visit  with 
them  had  raised  a  very  unhappy  feeling*  in  his 
family  between  himself  and  wife,  and  in  the 
meantime  had  reported  it  to  his  priestly  quorum 
and  others  of  higher  authority  in  the  church. 
This  I  was  not  aware  of  at  the  time,  yet  he  had 
attributed  the  trouble  to  the  influence  of  my 
wife  and  not  to  myself.  Sister  L.  was  frantic 
to  leave  and  plead  and  cried  in  tears*  for  consent 
that  she  might  go  and  he  do  as  he  pleased,  de- 
claring if  she  had  to  stay  she  would  put  an  end 
to  her  life  in  the  river.  But  he  could  not  be 
moved. 

At  this  point  of  the  struggle  the  two  women 
planned  for  her  leaving  with  us.  All  I  knew 
of  the  plan  at  the  time  was  my  wife  asking  me, 
"Should  Sister  L.  come  to  the  train  after  it 
had  started  into  the  mountains,  would  I  allow 
her  to  go  along  with  us?"  I  answered  (not 
19 


290      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

expecting"  'any  such  thing"  would  occur)  it 
would  be  very  hard  for  me  to  refuse,  and  that 
the  road  and  way  would  be  as  free  for  her  as 
any  one  else.  My  answer  led  to  a  plan  con- 
structed by  and  between  the  two  women  for 
Sister  Iv.'s  escape,  for  she  was  determined  to 
leave  or  die  in  the  attempt. 

Sister  Iv.  being*  accustomed  to  work  out  in 
families  who  needed  help,  wash  and  do  house- 
work, their  plan  was  as  follows  :  We  were  to 
return  to  Salt  L/ake  City,  find  out  just  when 
the  train  was  to  start  out  to  cross  the  plains ; 
write  to  her  in  her  maidemiame  to  Ogxlen,  stat- 
ing* the  day  and  time  of  day  it  would  start,  and 
she  would  then  make  her  own  way  to  happen 
with  us  as  the  train  was  moving*.  She  would 
propose  to  her  husband  that  she  was  gfoing*  to 
work  in  some  family  a  few  days  as  she  was  ac- 
customed to  do  ;  and  in  the  meantime  she  would 
walk  some  fifty  or  more  miles  from  Ogxien  up 
into  Emigration  Canyon  and  join  us  as  the 
train  was  on  its  way  into  the  mountains. 

I  knew  nothing-  of  the  arrangement  until  we 
had  left  Ogden,  and  when  my  wife  told  me  the 
particulars  of  it,  I  could  but  hope  that  some- 


Leaving-  Pay  son — the  Result.  291 

thing*  would  come  in  the  way  so  it  would  not 
have  to  be  carried  out.  On  the  strength  of 
this  arrangement  Sister  Iv.  became  perfectly 
cheerful  and  happy,  said  to  her  husband  that 
she  had  made  up  her  mind  to  settle  down  for 
the  present  and  they  would  await  reports  from 
us  after  we  had  arrived  in  the  states,  and  then 
they  could  g*o  to  us  as  the  opening*  mig*ht  prove. 
This  pacific  state  of  mind  on  the  part  of  Sister 
Iv.  pacified  Bro.  Iv.,  and  he  in  return  quieted 
the  Mormon  priesthood,  which  worked  to  and 
for  our  own  g*ood  ;  otherwise,  as  I  learned  later, 
we  should  have  met  serious  trouble. 

I  learned  here  and  at  other  times  in  my  Mor- 
mon experience  that  women  are  more  daring* 
and  determined   in   their  purposes  and  under- 
iking*s  than  are  men.     Yet,  while  this  may  be 
women  are  less  careful  and  discreet  in  their 
mclusions  and  undertaking's.     Had  I  acted  as 
[id  my  kind-hearted  wife  at  Og*den  in  sympa- 
;hy  with  Sister  Iv.,  or  planned  as  did  she  in  her 
irdor  of  soul  for  the  escape  of  Sister  L.,  and 
;he  circumstances  had  been  favorable  to  their 
consummation,  I  doubt    not  but   as  a  natural 
msequence,  Bro.  Iv.  would  have  followed  us 


292      Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

with  a  band  of  ordained  man-killers,  and  I 
should  have  died  a  victim  to  an  unwise  ar- 
rangement. But  all  this  was  avoided  by  cir- 
cumstances over  which  we  had  no  control. 

We  remained  two  days  at  Ogden  with  our 
friends.  After  this  arrangement  between  those 
two  sisters  was  consummated  and  all  was 
cheerful  and  happy,  Sister  Iv.  appeared  to  be 
as  happy  as  though  she  had  secured  her  hus- 
band's consent  to  all  her  passionate,  womanly 
heart  could  ask. 

But  our  time  was  limited  and  we  must  leave 
and  part,  and  while  I  was  hitching  up  my  team 
to  leave,  a  remark  from  a  stranger  passing  by 
to  Bro.  L.  spoke  volumes  to  myself.  He  said 
to  Bro.  L.  in  a  savage,  threatening  tone  of 
voice  : 

"Is  that  apostate  going  to  leave?" 

"Yes,"  Bro.  L.  answered,  "He  is  all  right; 
everything  is  right." 

"Well,"  said  he,  "He  had  better  leave,  or 
we  will  help  him." 

4 '  He  is  all  right ;  that  is  all  right, ' '  remarked 
Bro.  L. 

By  these  remarks  I  knew  there  was  a  storm 


Leaving  Pay  son — the  Result.  293 

gathering*  in  the  Mormon  atmosphere,  and 
that  Bro.  Iy.  was- now  doing  his  utmost  to  save 
me  from  its  bursting*  on  my  head.  I  knew  as  a 
natural  result  of  organic  Mormonism  the  con- 
dition of  thing's  at  Bro.  L.'s,  caused  by  an 
apostate,  or  disbeliever,  had  entered  into  the 
secret  counsels  of  the  priesthood,  and  it  could 
or  would  be  but  a  small  matter  for  them  to  dis- 
pose of  it.  I  had  heard  the  highest  priesthood 
in  the  church  admonish  the  brethren  to  cut  the 
apostates  off  from  the  church  under  the  chin, 
or  a  little  below  the  whiskers,  at  the  same  time 
drawing-  his  finger  across  his  throat.  I  had 
learned  by  this  time  to  know  what  they  were 
capable  of  doing-  and  doing-  it  with  good  Mor- 
mon grace. 

But  we  left  our  friends.  We  parted  on  the 
edg-e  of  the  river,  and  for  thirty-seven  years 
have  never  heard  from  them.  I  heard  of  Bro. 
L.  some  twenty  years  after  we  left  by  a  mis- 
sionary from  Og-den  whom  I  met  in  England 
when  I  was  on  a  visit  to  friends  in  ni}^  native 
country.  Bro.  L.  had  left  Salt  Lake  ;  had  left 
the  Brighamites  and  joined  the  Morrisites  and 
gone  to  the  g'old  regions  in  the  mountains. 


294      Aformonism  Hxposed  and  Refuted. 

But  he  knew  nothing"  of  Sister  Iv.  What  ever 
might  have  become  of  her  we  never  knew. 
She  declared  to  my  wife  if  she  did  not  get 
away  she  would  drown  herself  in  the  Ogden 
River. 

We  crossed  the  river  leaving  them  on  the 
opposite  side,  and  for  fear  of  the  Danites  we 
traveled  until  very  late,  turned  off  from  the 
road  quite  a  distance,  retired  without  a  light, 
supposing  if  pursuers  were  on  our  track,  they 
would  have  trouble  to  find  us.  Next  morning 
was  beautiful  and  bright  and  we  found  our- 
selves unharmed,  for  which  we  were  truly 
thankful ;  and  while  we  had  foes  without  and 
fears  within,  somehow  we  felt  a  divine  provi- 
dence by  a  guarding,  guiding  angel,  or  some 
unseen  protection  was  on  our  side. 

We  hastened  back  to  Salt  Lake  City,  pass- 
ing through  and  camping  between  the  city  and 
Emigration  Canyon  so  as  to  be  sure  to  join  the 
train  which  was  to  start  two  days  later,  which 
left  us  but  little  time  to  prepare  to  start  with 
it,  much  less  write  to  Sister  L.  and  for  her  to 
make  the  trip  on  foot  to  join  us  as  proposed. 
All  that  we  could  do  in  relation  to  this  poor, 


Leaving-  Pay  son — the  Result.  295 

heart-broken  sister  was  to  write  to  her  in  her 
maiden  name  as  agreed,  stating1  the  facts  of 
the  train  leaving1  earlier  than  we  had  expected, 
and  by  the  time  she  would  receive  our  letter  we 
should  be  on  our  journey,  and  it  would  be  im- 
possible for  her  to  join  us.  I  know  in  reason 
when  that  hopeful  woman  received  the  letter, 
and  saw  her  most  cherished  hopes  blasted, 
she  must  have  sunk  in  despondency  and  despair. 
But  such  as  this  is  but  a  small  part  of  life 
among-  the  Mormons.  Whether  this  anxious 
disappointed  sister  survived  her  disappointment 
or  ended  it  in  the  river  as  she  declared,  we 
were  never  able  to  learn.  We  could  but  hope 
that  a  kind  providence  would  order  her  future 
desirable,  and  that  her  life  mig-ht  be  a  blessing- 
to  herself  and  those  around  her. 

We  are  now  about  to  retrace  our  steps,  some 
twelve  hundred  miles  back  to  the  Missouri 
River,  opposite  St.  Joseph,  Mo.  We  had  spent 
two  winters  and  one  summer  in  the  Zion  of  the 
Latter-day  Saints,  and  we  were  feeling-  much 
more  happy  in  leaving-  than  we  felt  in  g^oing-. 
We  felt  disappointed  in  the  country  on  account 
of  its  natural  disadvantages ;  disappointed  in 


296      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

the  condition  of  the  masses  of  the  people,  who 
were  absolutely  too  poor  to  enjoy  life.  They 
could  not  procure  half  the  comforts  that  indus- 
try offers  to  any  and  all  civilized  people. 
They  lived  hard,  but  the  masses  of  the  Mor- 
mons at  that  time,  compared  with  the  civilized 
world  passed  a  life  of  seclusion,  of  hermitage 
and  social  death. 

At  this  time  we  felt  invigorated  and  inspired 
at  our  prospective  exit  from  among  them.  We 
felt  now  we  have  something  before  us  that  was 
hopeful ;  something  to  travel  back  to,  for  we 
had  passed  through,  had  seen  the  good  land  that 
flowed  with  milk  and  honey,  with  corn  and  wine  ; 
and  Joshua  and  Caleb  like,  we  felt  sure  the  Lord 
would  give  us  a  portion  of  it  for  an  inheritance  to 
ourselves  and  offspring.  For  I  felt  it  would  be  a 
curse,  almost  an  unpardonable  sin  to  bring  and 
raise  a  family  of  children  in  and  among  the 
Mormons  in  Utah  as  it  was  at  that  time.  We 
had  learned  much  while  among  the  would-be 
Saints.  Our  struggles,  our  doubts  and  fears, 
our  hard  living  were  not  all  a  dead  loss.  We 
had  learned  what  we  only  could  learn  by  being 
there ;  and  as  we  have  often  said  and  felt,  we 


Leaving"  Payson — the  Result.  297 

would  not  take  the  gold  of  California  for  our 
experience.  We  had  seen  the  elephant  in  his 
definite  proportions.  We  were  able  to  turn 
away  fully  satisfied,  so  we  should  and  never 
have  regretted  our  going*  or  leaving*  them  as  a 
relig'ious  people.  We  proved  them  to  our 
hearts'  content.  But  eternity  will  only  prove 
the  fallacy  of  that  enormous  fraud  and  religi- 
ous  deception.  As  an  eye-witness,  "I  speak 
that  which  I  know  and  testify  that  which  I 
have  seen." 

We  are  are  now  camped  at  the  mouth  of 
Emigration  Canyon  where  I  first  saw  the  city 
some  eighteen  months  before.  We  were  then 
entering  the  school  to  receive  our  Salt  Lake 
Mormon  experience.  We  have  passed  through 
and  are  now  abotit  to  let  the  curtain  drop  as 
the  last  act  of  our  Utah  drama  is  finished. 
We  -had  seen  the  country,  the  people  and  their 
condition.  We  had  seen  the  heads  of  the 
church ;  had  compared  the  condition  of  the 
leaders  and  the  led.  We  had  pronounced  the 
leaders  of  the  system  a  class  of  religious  usur- 
pers and  deceivers  for  power  and  profit.  They 
had  full  control  of  the  people  and  their  prop- 


298      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refutea. 

erty  and  were  using  such  power  for  their  own 
indulgence. 

The  heads  were  well-to-do  in  this  world's 
goods;  the,  masses  were  poor  indeed.  Practi- 
cally, their  religion  was  neither  humane  nor 
Christian.  We  had  been  anxious  to  prove  them  ; 
we  had  done  so.  We  had  been  anxious  to  go ; 
we  were  now  satisfied  and  equally  anxious  to 
leave.  We  had  entered  the  valleys  with  mis- 
givings and  doubts,  but  our  misgivings  and 
doubts  were  no  more ;  they  were  settled— 
finally  and  fully  settled.  And  while  we  had 
a  long  and  trying  journey  before  us,  with  a 
supply  of  provisions  which  did  not  last  us  half 
the  journey,  and  otherwise  a  poor  outfit ;  yet 
we  felt  cheerful  and  happy  at  the  prospect  of 
our  deliverance.  We  had  carefully  avoided 
answering  many  questions  put  to  us  by  strang- 
ers as  to  our  object  for  traveling,  saying  we 
were  going  to  Fort  Bridger.  The  Mormons 
at  that  time  were  making  a  new  settlement  at 
that  place,  and  this  furnished  us  a  happy 
excuse  just  at  that  time. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
LEAVING  SALT  LAKE  CITY  FOR  GREEN  RIVER. 

BUT  the  missionary  train  is  leaving1  the  city, 
and  as  they  approach  we  fall  in  behind. 
No  one  asked  us  any  questions.  We  had  not 
seen  or  talked  with  any  one  about  traveling* 
with  the  company.  We  were  determined  to  g-o, 
and  could  almost  take  any  kind  of  chances. 
There  were  in  the  train  some  fifteen  or  twenty 
wag-ons,  and  some  ten  or  fifteen  men  on  horse- 
back. In  the  train  was  Judg-e  Kenney  (U.  S. 
Judg-e),  returning*  with  his  family  to  the  states. 
He  had  his  larg-e  family  carriage  and  other 
teams.  There  was  also  a  Mr.  Bainbow-and  his 
family,  who  were  leaving-  the  Mormons  for 
g*ood,  but  were  keeping-  up  Mormon  appearances 
for  safe  traveling-.  There  were  many  promi- 
nent members  of  the  church  in  the  train,  apos- 
tles Pratt  and  Benson,  and  other  leading-  spir- 
its, among-  them  Port  Rockwell,  one  of  the  lead- 
ing- Danites.  But  the  train  is  passing-.  Ken- 
ney and  Bainbow  are  the  last  teams  in  the  train. 

(299) 


300      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

As  they  pass  we  fall  in  behind.  We  take  our 
last  look  at  the  city  and  the  valley,  and  joyful- 
ly say  good-bye.  We  are  now  moving-  in  fact. 
We  are  cheerfully  leaving-  the  latter-day  Zion, 
the  "Hive  of  Deseret."  Yet  we  feel  anxious 
about  how  we  may  fare  among-  our  new  travel- 
ing- missionary  associates.  We  cross  the  little 
mountain.  We  went  up  all  rig-ht,  but  it  was 
very  hard  pulling-  for  the  team,  thoug-h  our 
wag-on  and  load  were  very  lig-ht.  We  are 
camped  now  between  the  little  and  big-  mount- 
ains. The  Mormon  missionaries  are  a  little  off 
to  themselves  ;  Kenney,  Bainbow,  and  myself 
form  a  camp  to  ourselves.  Supper  is  over,  and 
we,  as  apostates  and  Gentiles,  are  talking-  over 
our  situation.  We  wonder  why  Port  Rockwell 
is  along-  with  the  train.  We  are  fearful  as  to 
his  mission.  We  are  anxious,  and  planning-  to 
find  out  what  Rockwell's  object  or  mission  may 
be.  Kenney  is  fearful.  He  knows  what  the 
Mormons  are  capable  of  doing- ;  but  he  has  de- 
vised a  plan  to  find  out.  He  proposes  in  the 
morning-  to  have  a  talk  with  Rockwell,  and  pro- 
poses to  try  to  eng-ag^e  him  to  assist  him  with 
his  teams  to  the  Missouri  River,  so  he  may 


Leaving"  Salt  Lake  City.  301 

know  whether  Rockwell  is  going*  through  to 
the  states,  or  his  mission  is  somewhere  on  the 
road.  The  grass  is  good  ;  the  teams  do  well 
in  the  night ;  we  are  up  early  and  on  our  jour- 
ney. An  incident  occurred  this  morning  that 
gave  me  an  opportunity  to  test  Rockwell's  dis- 
position toward  me.  I  had  three  horses,  and 
only  worked  two  in  my  wagon.  My  extra  horse 
got  loose  as  we  were  starting  from  camp,  and 
ran  forward  in  the  train.  Rockwell  was  on 
horseback,  and  he  lariated  my  horse  and 
brought  it  back  to  me,  handing  it  over  to  me  so 
gentlemanly  and  kindly,  I  felt  sure  I  was  not 
spotted  by  him  for  destruction.  I  had  watched 
his  demeanor  toward  me  very  closely,  and  now 
I  felt  by  his  looks  and  kind  act  that  he  felt  all 
right  toward  me.  Judge  Kenney  had  found  out 
that  he  was  going  to  the  Missouri  River,  hence 
we  are  all  at  rest  on  that  point. 

We  have  now  to  climb  the  big  mountain,  and 
surely  it  is  a  large  mountain  to  climb  with 
teams.  We  had  come  down  these  mountains  as 
we  went  to  Salt  Lake,  and  I  had  not  noticed 
them  as  I  do  now,  having  to  travel  them  the 
opposite  way ;  but  with  a  hard  struggle,  fam- 


302      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

ily  walking',  we  made  its  top,  which  was  a  solid 
mass  of  snow,  how  d?ep  at  that  time  I  knew 
not,  only  we  traveled  quite  a  distance  on  the 
snow,  which  bore  up  the  wag-ons  and  teams. 

We  are  camping-  on  Bear  River.  The  men 
on  horseback  had  always,  up  to  this  time,  wait- 
ed to  see  and  assist,  if  necessary,  every  one 
over  difficult  places,  streams,  etc.  I  am  ap- 
pointed as  one  of  two  guards  over  the  horses 
for  the  night.  My  companion  guard,  while  we 
sit  tog-ether  in  a  cedar  grove  (the  stock  down 
in  the  valley  below),  is  undertaking-  to  catechise 
me  for  leaving-  the  Saints  in  their  g-athered 
Zion.  I  have  not  raised  any  objection  to  the 
Mormons  as  a  people,  or  their  relig-ion.  The 
only  apology  I  offered  was,  I  wanted  to  g-o  back 
to  the  States,  where  I  felt  sure  I  could  make  a 
raise  of  property  or  money,  and  then  I  would 
turn  my  attention  more  to  relig-ion.  I  told  him 
I  thoug-ht  relig-ion  was  costing-  people  too  much 
when  the  masses  of  the  people  in  Salt  Lake 
were  living-  as  they  were  on  account  of  it,  as  he 
himself  knew.  He  acknowledged  it  was  hard 
for  the  masses  of  the  people  to  live  as  they  were 
for  religion's  sake,  but  he  contended  that  their 


Leaving-  Salt  Lake  City.  303 

advantage  and  prospects  were  future.  He  was 
a  young"  man  of  very  limited  information  and 
experience  in  common  life,  and  equally  so  in 
Mormonism ;  but  he  was  gfoing*  out  as  a  mis- 
sionary to  ICng"land.  He  was  being"  sent  out, 
the  Lord  only  knows  what  for.  I  should  just  as 
soon  think  to  gfet  him  out  of  the  way  of  some  one 
of  his  superiors,  so  he  could  better  carry  out  some 
of  his  purposes  in  his  absence ;  for  it  is  com- 
mon, as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Joseph  Smith,  to 
send  certain  persons  on  a  mission  that  they 
mig-ht  better  carry  out  their  purposes  in  their 
absence ;  especially  if  the  heads  wished  to  seek 
advantage  in  connection  with  their  domestic  af- 
fairs. A  case  of  this  kind  was  related  to  me 
by  the  person  who  suffered  and  underwent  the 
results.  The  husband  and  father  of  a  certain 
family  lived  south  in  Utah.  He  loved  and  al- 
most idolized  his  wife.  He  said  she  was  natu- 
rally brig-lit,  g-ood-looking-,  and  an  active,  busi- 
ness, money-making-  woman.  He  had  a  number 
of  children,  and  said  they  were  well-to-do,  and 
were  truly  a  happy  family.  But  a  certain  hig-h 
official  priest  coveted  the  woman  and  the  prop- 
erty, and  to  better  accomplish  his  purpose,  had 


304      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

the  husband  sent  on  a  mission,  and  while  he 
was  from  home,  this  head  man  used  his  influ- 
ence and  Mormon  polygamic  doctrine  to  es- 
trange the  woman's  affection  from  her  husband. 
He  told  the  woman  that  she  was  too  brig'ht  and 
intelligent  for  such  a  man  as  her  husband  ;  that 
such  a  man  never  could  exalt  her  in  this  world 
nor  in  the  world  to  come  to  the  extent  that  she 
was  capable  of ;  that  she  was  not  properly  and 
equally  mated  with  such  a  man.  Yes,  this  old 
polygamic  priest,  with  his  natural  covetous, 
lustful,  carnal  make-up ;  with  his  influence  as  a 
high  official,  and  the  carnal,  polygamic  doctrine 
of  sealing,  or  celestial  marriage,  succeeded  in 
gaining  the  affection  of  that  woman,  and  final- 
ly married  her.  The  case  was  tried  on  the  hus- 
band's return  by  the  church,  and  the  church 
authorities  decided  in  favor  of  the  old,  lustful 
priest ;  and  with  the  woman,  he  got  almost  all 
the  property.  The  poor,  ruined  man  told  this 
story  himself,  and  while  telling  it,  was  bathed 
in  tears  of  sorrow.  He  had  married  again,  but 
his  first  wife  evidently  yet  had  his  affections, 
though  she  was  living  and  married  to  another 
man.  How  many  cases  of  ruined  families  have 


Leaving-  Salt  Lake  City.  305 

I  seen  and  heard  of,  which  in  themselves  were 
truly  heart  sickening-,  where  man  or  wife,  or 
both,  have  had  all  that  was  bright,  cheerful, 
and  happy  destroyed,  and  have  had  to  go 
through  the  remainder  of  their  lives  in  gloom 
and  despondency — and  all  this  sacrificed  to  the 
ambition  and  carnal  tendencies  of  a  set  of  re- 
ligious deceivers? 

And  this  young1  man  with  whom  I  was  on 
g'uard,  while  we  sat  there  in  the  cedar  grove,  I 
wondered  if  he  was  not  a  victim  of  such  as  the 
above  ;  whether  some  of  the  heads  of  the  church 
had  had  him  sent  off  on  a  mission  to  g-et  him  out 
of  the  way,  so  they  could  separate  him  from 
some  young-  lover,  or  separate  him  from  a  love- 
ly young-  wife,*to  give  some  old  bishop,  patri- 
arch, or  some  one  hig-h  in  authority,  a  better 
opportunity  to  carry  out  his  covetous,  lustful 
desig-n.  But  this  poor,  simple  brother  was  ev- 
idently sincere,  and  commenced  to  admonish  and 
exhort  me  from  his  Mormon  standpoint.  Said 
he,  "We  are  admonished  by  the  church  not  to 
scatter,  but  to  g-ather  to  the  mountains,  to  es- 
cape the  wrath  of  God,  which  is  soon  to  come 

upon  the  nations  of  the  earth,"  while  the  L/ord 
20 


306      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

would  preserve  the  Latter-day  Saints  in  their 
mountain  home  in  Salt  Lake  valleys.  He  un- 
dertook to  quote  a  passage  of  scripture  to  me, 
one  he  had  learned  from  his  teachers,  as  they 
had  given  it  to  him,  or  as  he  remembered,  the 
best  he  could,  for  he  evidently  knew  little  or 
nothing  of  the  Bible.  The  passage  he  aimed 
at,  but  which  he  misquoted,  is  found  in  Isa. 
xxvi:  20,  "Come,  my  people,  enter  thou  into 
thy  chambers,  and  shut  thy  doors  about  thee : 
hide  thyself  as  it  were  for  a  little  moment,  un- 
til the  indignation  be  overpast ;  for  behold  the 
Lord  cometh  out  of  his  place  to  punish  the  in- 
habitants of  the  earth  for  their  iniquity."  He 
quoted  at  this  scripture  to  prove  that  the  pres- 
ent condition  of  the  Mormon  church  in  the 
mountains  was  the  fulfillment  of  this  scripture, 
and  that  the  Mormons  were  separated  from  the 
balance  of  the  world  to  be  preserved ;  and  that 
soon  the  Gentile  world  would  be  destroyed  en 
masse  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth.  Having 
made  this  point  clear,  as  he  supposed,  he  ad- 
monished me  to  gather  and  not  to  scatter.  But 
to  test  the  use  he  was  making  of  this  scripture, 
I  asked  him  if  he  knew  what  part  of  the  Bible 


Leaving-  Salt  Lake  City.  307 

that  scripture  was  in,  and  he  answered  that  he 
did  not.  I  asked  him  if  he  knew  whether  it 
was  in  the  Old  or  New  Testament.  He  frank- 
ly admitted  he  did  not.  I  said  to  him,  "  Surely 
you  are  not  very  well  acquainted  with  the  scrip- 
ture you  are  using-,"  and  he  admitted  he  was  but 
little  acquainted  with  the  Bible.  I  then  asked 
him  if  he  was  sure  he  was  making-  the  proper 
use  of  that  scripture  in  applying-  it  to  the  pres- 
ent time  of  the  world  and  the  Latter-day  Saints 
in  the  mountains  for  preservation,  and  the  im- 
mediate destruction  of  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  at  this  time.  Here  he  was  slow  to  an- 
swer. He  was  evidently  as  ig-norant  as  he  was 
sincere.  Having-  confessed  he  did  not  know 
what  book  of  the  Bible  the  passage  was  in,  he 
also  acknowledg-ed  he  did  not  know  at  what 
time  in  the  history  of  the  world  it  was  writ- 
ten. I  then  stated  to  him  it  was  in  the  book  of 
Isaiah,  and  was  written  some  six  or  seven  hun- 
dred years  before  the  time  of  Jesus  Christ, 
which  would  make  it  written  some  twenty-five 
hundred  years  ag*o.  I  then  asked  him  if  it 
mig-ht  not  have  been  fulfilled  since  the  time  it 
was  first  written  and  the  present  time.  About 


308      Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

this  time  the  poor,  innocent,  ignorant  brother 
was  ready  to  have  me  quit  asking*  questions, 
and  appeared  to  be  anxious  to  leave  the  talking* 
to  myself.  I  called  his  attention  to  an  ex- 
pression of  Jesus  Christ  to  his  disciples,  ''And 
when  ye  shall  see  Jerusalem  compassed  with 
armies,  then  know  that  the  desolation  thereof 
is  nig-h.  Then  let  them  which  are  in  Judea  flee 
to  the  mountains ;  and  let  them  who  are  in  the 
midst  of  it  depart  out ;  and  let  not  them  that  are 
in  the  countries  enter  thereinto.  For  these  be 
the  days  of  vengeance,  that  all  thing's  which 
are  written  may  be  fulfilled."  Luke  xxi:  20- 
22.  My  fellow-herdsman  was  evidently  unac- 
quainted with  any  of  these  scriptures.  I  then 
suggested  to  him  that  in  the  history  of  the 
sieg*e  of  Jerusalem,  it  is  said  that  during*  the 
sieg*e  there  was  a  chang-e  in  relation  to  the  em- 
peror at  Rome,  and  the  army  for  a  short  time 
was  withdrawn,  and  the  disciples  of  Jesus,  re- 
membering- the  admonition  of  Jesus  in  the  pas- 
sag-e  quoted,  the  g*ates  of  the  city  being*  thrown 
open  for  a  short  time,  all  left  the  city  and  fled 
to  the  mountains  of  Judea  to  a  city  called  Pella, 
and  there  was  not  one  of  them  perished  in  the 


Leaving"  Salt  Lake  City.  309 

siege ;  and  saying1  to  him  I  felt  sure  that  the 
passag-e  he  had  attempted  to  apply  to  the  Mor- 
mon Saints  in  Utah  at  the  present  time,  had  its 
fulfillment  in  the  land  of  Judea,  some  thirty 
years  after  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  which 
was  near  two  thousand  years  agr>.  At  this  my 
associate  gfuard  was  silent,  and  the  admonitions 
and  exhortations  had  turned  the  other  way ;  and 
thoug-h  I  knew  I  was  exposing*  myself— for  he 
was  bound  to  report  me  to  the  head  priesthood 
in  the  camp — the  temptation  was  such  to  de- 
fend myself  ag-ainst  these  deluders  and  deluded 
people,  I  was  not  able  to  withstand  it.  And 
surely  I  had  brought  myself  into  special  no- 
tice, for  I  at  once  found  their  conduct  chang-ed 
toward  me,  as  was  very  plainly  manifested  as 
we  started  to  travel  next  morning*.  As  I  stated 
above,  the  men  on  horseback  were  always  in  at- 
tendance on  the  teams  in  all  difficult  places ; 
but  having-  to  cross  Bear  River  on  the  start  this 
morning-,  the  horsemen  waited  until  all  the 
wagxms  had  crossed  but  mine,  and  then  rode  off 
and  left  me  to  sink  or  swim.  I  knew  by  this  I 
was  out  of  favor,  and  that  I  need  not  expect 
any  favors  from  them.  But  when  we  camped 


310      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted.^ 

at  noon  it  was  still  more  manifest.  Some  of 
the  horsemen  had  killed  an  antelope,  and  had 
it  ready  dressed  at  the  camp  at  noon,  and  while 
Judge  Kenney  and  my  friend  Bainbow  were  in- 
vited to  share  for  dinner  of  the  antelope,  they 
offered  none  to  me ;  and  worse  than  that,  Mr. 
Bainbow  told  me  he  heard  them  say  they  would 
"not  give  any  to  that  d— d  apostate,  for  it  might 
choke  him. "  Hearing  this,  I  knew  I  must  leave 
the  train.  The  young  man  on  guard  with  me 
the  night  before,  no  doubt  had  related  to  the 
heads  our  exchange  of  thoughts  in  the  cedar 
grove,  and  now  they  had  me  tried  and  con- 
demned, and  I  knew  not  but  the  time  and  place 
were  fixed  for  my  execution.  One  thing  I  do 
know  :  I  was  censured  for  the  part  I  had  played 
in  the  friendly  talk  I  had  with  the  young,  simple- 
hearted  missionary,  and  here  were  a  number  of 
the  representative  men  of  the  church.  And 
just  think  of  these  would-be  leading  men  of  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints — 
the  special  institution  of  the  God  of  heaven, 
divinely  instituted  by  Jesus  Christ  and  holy 
angels,  by  Joseph  Smith,  who  they  claimed  to 
be  the  greatest  prophet  of  God  that  ever  ex- 


Leaving"  Salt  Lake  City.  311 

isted  on  the  earth — and  yet,  think  that  these 
apostles  and  high  counselors  could  afford  to 
count  a  poor,  simple-minded  man  like  myself 
an  enemy,  and  refuse  to  extend  to  me  the  com- 
mon claims  of  humanity,  simply  because  an  ig- 
norant member  of  their  church  was  not  able 
to  defend  their  plea  for  gathering-  to  Salt  Lake 
as  the  place  of  God's  appointment !  But  this 
is  just  the  size  and  spirit  of  the  institution, 
from  the  very  head  of  the  church  down  to  the 
little  toe.  Can  I  possibly  accord  to  them  com- 
mon humanity,  to  say  nothing  of  Christianity? 
Does  not  any  and  every  unselfish  mind  know 
that  such  a  spirit  is  not  the  spirit  of  Christ, 
but  is  from  beneath  ?  I  would  fain  find  or  see 
something  in  their  system  that  I  could  apply  to 
some  general  principle  of  unselfish  good ;  but 
hitherto  I  have  failed.  There  are  individual 
natural  traits  of  good  among  them,  in  common 
with  humanity,  but  their  system,  as  such,  "is 
earthly,  sensual,  and  devilish."  Think  of  a 
large  train  of  would-be  Christian  missionaries 
getting  all  out  of  sorts  because  a  fellow  trav- 
eler did  not  see  just  as  they  did.  What  better 
proof  could  they  have  given  me  that  they  did 


312      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refutea. 

not  possess  the  spirit  of  Christ,  without  which 
they  are  none  of  his  ? 

But  this  day's  drive  was  a  long*  one.  One  of 
my  horses  (a  young1  one)  was  about  to  give  out, 
and  I  was  obliged  to  drop  behind.  The  roads 
were  gx>od,  and  I  had  but  a  lig-ht  load ;  yet  the 
distance  was  too  much  for  him.  But  we  reached 
camp,  feeling-  more  fully  we  were  among'  them 
but  not  of  them.  It  had  been  a  beautiful  day, 
everything"  favorable  ;  it  was  truly  an  enjoyable 
ride,  for  every  hour  broug-ht  fresh  scenery.  But 
we  were  journeying-  in  the  desired  direction, 
and  had  strong-  hope  of  better  thing's  in  the  near 
future.  We  felt  in  our  hearts  the  Lord  had 
spoken  g-ood  concerning-  us.  My  wife  had 
learned  to  play  her  part  in  camp  life  ;  she  could 
g-ather  up  the  buffalo  chips,  make  fire  of  and 
cook  with  them,  so  as  to  have  meals  in  time  to 
move  early  in  the  morning's.  Thus  I  could  pay 
every  needed  attention  to  my  team  and  wag-on. 
Next  morning-  I  undertook  to  hitch  up  my  ex- 
tra horse,  to  favor  the  one  which  had  so  near- 
ly g-iven  out  the  day  before.  I  had  not  had 
it  hitched  up  before.  I  had  g-ot  it  at  Og-den,  in 
trade  for  my  cow  and  the  account  I  had  gxme  to 


Leaving-  Salt  Lake  City.  313 

collect ;  but  I  'found  out  here  it  would  not  work 
in  the  wagon.  Our  first  move  was  down  hill ; 
but  it  balked  and  would  not  move.  In  trying* 
to  make  it  go,  it  lay  down,  plunged,  and  struck 
its  head  against  the  end  of  the  wagon  tongue, 
and  in  a  few  moments  breathed  its  last.  My 
young  horse  was  rested  up,  like  young  things 
do,  and  in  five  minutes  I  was  traveling,  leaving 
the  dead  one  in  the  middle  of  the  road  for  a 
wolf  feast.  I  lingered  a  short  distance  behind 
the  train,  knowing  that  day  about  noon  we 
should  reach  Green  River,  where  was  a  trading 
post,  and  I  proposed  the  missionary  train  might 
go  on,  and  I  would  wait  for  other  and  safer 
chances  for  traveling  company.  But  coming  to 
the  river  I  found  things  much  better  than  I  had 
expected.  As  I  approached  the  river  I  saw  a 
camp  of  travelers  on  the  opposite  side  above 
the  crossing.  The  missionary  train  had  turned 
below  the  crossing  to  camp.  '  Driving  across 
the  river,  instead  of  turning  down  to  the  mis- 
sionary camp,  I  turned  up  to  the  other.  They 
were  all  strangers  to  me,  but  I  felt  it  was  no 
longer  safe  for  me  to  travel  with  the  mission- 
ary train  ;  they  were  Mormons,  not  Christians. 


314      Morrnonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

Had  they  been  the  latter,  I  should  not  have 
been  in  danger,  but  should  have  had  their  sym- 
pathy and  assistance,  had  I  needed  such. 

But  here  in  the  new  camp  I  was  likely  to 
again  meet  trouble.  The  camp  would  appear 
to  have  been  arranged  to  travel,  and  the  would- 
be  captain,  D.,  met  me  as  I  drove  up,  and  with- 
out asking  any  questions,  abruptly  told  me  I 
could  not  drive  in  and  camp  with  or  by  them. 
He  claimed  to  be  the  captain,  whether  by  self- 
appointment  or  not  I  never  learned.  At  this 
piece  of  conduct  I  felt  a  little  of  the  carnal  in- 
dignation generating  in  me.  I  asked  the  cap- 
tain if  this  country  was  not  as  free  for  me  to 
travel  and  camp  in  as  it  was  for  himself  or  any 
one  else.  I  said  to  him,  "You  do  not  own  this 
country,  and  are  not  engaged  by  the  govern- 
ment to  manage  it ;  my  rights  are  equal  to 
yours,"  and  I  was  going  to  camp  right  by  them 
and  take  chances.  So  I  drove  to  where  I 
wished,  and  camped.  I  was  feeling  at  this 
time  a  little  more  of  the  Uncle  Sam — the  civil 
government — than  of  the  love  of  Christ  Jesus 
toward  this  great  lump  of  a  train  captain,  and 
I  think  he  saw  and  felt  it.  He  was  leaving  the 


Leaving-  Salt  Lake  City.  315 

Mormons  under  false  pretence,  but  to  all  appear- 
ances, his  conduct  toward  the  great  big"  mission- 
aries would  indicate  that  he  was  half  a  dozen 
g-ood  Mormons  condensed  into  one.  He  was 
like  the  Pharisee  that  went  up  to  the  temple  to 
tell  the  Lord  he  was  so  much  larger  and  better 
than  his  fellow-worshiper.  I  find  in  my  ex- 
perience all  throug-h  life,  that  a  crop  of  such 
fellows  are  not  wanting*  in  every  generation. 
There  was  a  Judas  necessary  among*  the  apos- 
tles, and  a  Pharaoh  necessary  to  set  forth 
wicked  national  character,  and  I  suppose  Jo- 
seph Smith,  with  his  system  and  followers,  are 
as  necessary  as  was  the  devil  in  the  Garden  of 
Eden. 

False  relig-ions  are  evidently  according-  to 
God's  appointment,  or  are  a  part  of  God's 
divine  arrang-ement,  according-  to  the  testimony 
of  the  Bible,  for  it  is  said,  the  Son  of  man 
sowed  the  wheat  in  the  field — the  world,  and 
the  devil  sowed  the  tares  in  the  field — the  world. 
This  may  look  as  though  God  was  the  author 
of  evil  as  well  as  the  g-ood,  and  yet  evil  is  said 
to  be  but  temporary,  while  g-ood  is  eternal ;  so 
in  the  end  evil  will  cease,  while  g-ood  will  con- 


316      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

tinue.  "I  make  peace;  I  create  evil ;  I,  the 
Lord,  do  all  these  thing's."  Isa.  xlv:  7. 

I  felt  at  a  loss  to  understand  why  Captain 
D.  should  object  to  my  camping'  and  traveling* 
with  them,  for  the  larger  the  company  in  trav- 
eling* across  the  plains  the  more  self-protection 
in  defense  againt  the  Indians,  and  as  a  rule  we 
felt  safer  and  better  in  large  companies.  But 
I  suppose  he  was  one  of  those  unfortunate 
make-ups  who  are  never  satisfied  or  content 
with  their  own  rights  and  privileges  on  the 
earth,  but  must  always  be  interfering  with  the 
rights  of  their  fellows.  And  after  all,  I  could 
but  feel  he  was  acting  out  the  law  of  his  na- 
ture, and,  Judas-like,  more  to  be  pitied  than 
blamed. 

D  But  I  unhitched  my  team  and  settled  down  in 
their  midst,  and  was  soon  at  home  with  the  bal- 
ance of  the  camp.  The  conduct  of  Capt.  D. 
had  moved  the  sympathies  of  the  balance  of  the 
camp  in  my  behalf,  and  led  them  to  come  around 
more  readily  to  make  my  acquaintance,  and 
when  they  learned  that  I  was  a  decided  anti- 
Mormon,  they  were  more  than  pleased  to  make 
my  full  acquaintance,  especially  relating  to  my 


Leaving"  Salt  Lake  City.  317 

history  and  observations  among"  the  Mormons. 
They  spoke  of  Capt.  D.  as  very  overbearing-, 
and  proposed  to  leave  him  to  himself,  and  that 
we  form  a  company  and  travel  without  him.  I 
said  no,  we  need  to  keep  all  together  for  our 
own  protection. 

During1  the  afternoon  two  or  three  of  the 
leading-  missionaries  came  up  into  our  camp,  and 
asked  me  if  I  was  not  going  to  travel  with 
them  any  farther.  I  said  no,  that  my  team  was 
not  able  to  keep  up,  and  I  should  have  to  travel 
more  slowly.  They  asked  me  what  had  become 
of  my  extra  horse.  I  g-ave  them  the  particu- 
lars, and  they  were  inclined  to  discredit  my 
statement.  They  intimated  that  I  had  misused 
it  and  caused  its  death,  and  that  I  was  liable 
to  be  arrested.  I  told  them  I  had  stated  the 
facts  in  the  case,  and  they  could  use  their  pleas- 
ure in  believing-  or  disbelieving*  me.  I  felt  truly 
glad  I  had  providentially  got  out  of  their  power 
and  influence  to  the  extent  I  had ;  for  I  had 
learned  of  the  Danite,  or  Destroying  Angel, 
part  of  their  system.  But  after  leaving  me, 
they  went  to  Capt.  D.,  and  told  him  something, 
just  what  I  never  knew,  but  they  persuaded 


318      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

him  not  to  allow  me  to  travel  with  what  he 
called  his  train.  Here  is  where  I  saw  Capt.  D. 
act  so  very  deceptive  with  the  missionaries, 
making-  them  believe  he  was  all  right  in  the 
faith,  and  that  he  was  going-  to  return  to  Salt 
Lake  when  he  g-ot  his  business  settled  in  the 
states.  Here  is  where  he  let  on  and  acted  as 
thoug-h  he  was  half  a  dozen  g-ood  Mormons  con- 
densed into  one.  But  nig-ht  passed  off  nicely, 
and  my  new  prospective  traveling  associates  and 
I  spent  a  pleasant  evening  talking  over  our  va- 
rious experiences  in  Mormonism ;  and  we  found 
each  other  similarly  circumstanced  and  strictly 
in  sympathy  with  one  another.  Two  of  these 
families  were  Scotch,  and  had  only  gone  into 
Salt  Lake  the  fall  before,  and  had  become  com- 
pletely disgusted  with  the  latter-day  Zion  in 
six  months.  We  felt  now  that  we  had  met  with 
kindred  spirits,  and  realized  the  truth  and 
force  of  the  old  adage,  "Company  in  distress 
makes  the  trouble  less." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

FROM    GREEN    RIVER     TO     ST.     JOSEPH — INCI- 
DENTS  BY   THE   WAY. 

EARLY  next  morning-  the  missionaries  start- 
ed out,  and  I  felt  somewhat  of  relief  when 
I  saw  them  passing-  away.  Captain  D.  came 
to  me  and  said  I  could  travel  with  them.  But 
I  must  gx>  behind  in  the  train.  I  made  no 
promise.  For  I  had  a  horse-team  and  the  bal- 
ance were  all  cattle ;  and  I  knew  they  would 
be  too  slow  for  my  team. 

In  starting-  away  from  the  river  we  had  to 
climb  a  larg-e,  steep  bluff,  and  some  of  the  cat- 
tle teams  stalled  and  were  delayed.  So  I  start- 
ed up  with  my  little  outfit  and  went  up  at  once. 
As  I  was  passing- Captain  D.'s  team  he  called 
on  me  to  keep  behind.  I  paid  no  attention  to 
him.  I  had  made  no  agreement  with  him  and 
I  was  breaking-  no  law.  I  felt  I  had  been  in 
bondag-e  too  long-  and  too  much  already,  and 
that  this  self-appointed  authority  peculiar  to 
the  Mormons  was  not  in  force  out  on  the  plains. 

(319) 


320      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

I  felt  truly  like  a  bird  which  had  got  out  of  its 
cage ;  that  I  could  go  and  come  almost  as  I 
pleased,  especially  when  my  own  enjoyment  did 
not  in  any  way  infringe  on  my  fellows. 

The  missionaries  were  gone  out  of  sight. 
So  I  drove  on  ahead,  feeling  as  good  and  light- 
hearted  as  though  I  was  almost  the  lord  of 
creation.  I  felt  I  was  once  more  out  of  bond- 
age heading  towards  a  better  land  where  I 
could  enjoy  common  freedom  and  rights  pecu- 
liar to  the  citizens  of  this  United  States  re- 
public. 

I  drove  on  ahead  of  our  cattle  train  several 
miles,  and  finding  nice  grass  I  unhitched  my 
horses  and  let  them  feed  while  the  slow  cattle 
train  was  moving  up.  I  felt  now  as  though  I 
was  a  man  of  leisure,  and  as  though  my  team 
was  as  much  at  leisure  as  myself.  I  never  felt 
more  so  in  my  life.  The  Egypt  of  Mormonism 
appeared  to  be  left  so  far  behind  that  the  un- 
godly and  inhuman  Pharaoh  power  of  Brigham 
Young  had  lost  its  grip,  and  that  by  the  hand 
of  a  kind  providence  I  had  really  been  delivered. 
It  was,  as  we  say  in  religion,  "being  born 
again,"  born  of  the  spirit  of  freedom — of  self- 


From  Green  River  to  St.  Joseph.        321 

ownership — of  being  delivered  from  the  power 
of  darkness  and  translated  into  the  liberty  of  a 
son  of  God.  Leisurely  looking*  over  the  coun- 
try as  the  train  was  coming*  up,  I  felt  that  the 
whole  creation  was  rejoicing-  with  me  in  my 
emancipation.  My  wife  at  this  time  also  felt 
we  had  by  the  help  of  God  wrought  out  our 
deliverance. 

We  were  climbing1  up  the  Pacific  slope 
towards  the  South  Pass,  or  the  backbone  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  country  and  scenery 
were  delightful,  and  we  now  were  able  to  enjoy 
ourselves  and  all  that  pertained  to  nature's 
God.  But  in  this  day's  travel  an  unfortunate 
incident  happened  to  one  of  the  families  in 
our  train — the  Scotch  family.  There  were  of 
the  family  father,  mother  and  three  sons,  all 
young-  men.  They  had  reached  Green  River 
several  days  before  I  found  them  in  camp  there, 
and  in  traveling  from  Salt  Lake  to  Green  River 
they  had  found  a  valise  on  the  road  which  be- 
longed to  Or  sen  Pratt.  Pratt  had  evidently 
returned  to  Salt  Lake  City  in  search  of  his  va- 
lise, for  he  was  in  the  train  as  I  traveled  with 

them.     I  was  never  able  to  put  the  peculiar 
21 


322      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

circumstances  together  as  they  occurred  to  my- 
self. But  the  main  facts  were  these :  After 
the  missionary  train  had  left  Green  River  they 
found  out  that  the  valise  had  been  found  by 
this  family  and  they  had  traded  off  some  of  its 
contents  at  the  store  to  the  merchant  there. 
While  I  am  leisurely  waiting  for  the  train  to 
come  up,  I  see  some  four  or  five  men  on  horse- 
back returning-.  I  could  but  wonder  at  this ; 
all  considered,  I  felt  sure  they  could  but  be 
some  of  the  missionary  train  that  was  return- 
ing. I  felt  more  strange  and  surprised  than  in 
danger.  As  they  drew  near  I  knew  them  to  be 
part  of  the  missionary  train.  I  had  driven  off 
a  little  to  one  side  of  the  road.  They  passed 
by  me  without  exchanging  a  word,  and  still  I 
wondered  what  this  could  mean.  I  remained 
where  I  was.  I  knew  they  must  have  delayed 
the  train.  Finally,  I  Saw  the  same  number 
of  horsemen  returning.  They  pass  me  with- 
out a  word.  I  then  was  sure  they  had  gone 
back  to  our  train  on  some  important  business. 
But  as  they  had  passed  me  twice  and  left  me 
unmolested,  I  felt  sure  I  was  not  involved  in 
whatever  it  might  be.  Again,  I  now  felt  as- 


From  Green  River  to  St.  Joseph.        323 

sured  I  was  not  a  marked  object  of  Danite 
destruction  by  any  one  of  the  missionary  train. 
For  I  knew  had  I  been  they  at  this  time  and 
place  mig-ht  have  carried  me  "over  the  rim  of 
the  basin."  I  waited  here  until  the  train  came 
up  and  the  old  brother  told  me  the  particulars. 
I  told  him  he  had  my  most  hearty  sympathy ; 
that  I  did  not  see  that  many  people  under  the 
same  circumstances  would  have  done  much  dif- 
ferent ;  thoug-h  it  was  by  no  means  the  best  way 
to  do.  The  family  evidently  intended  to  keep 
the  valise  and  its  contents,  else  they  could  have 
advertised  it  at  the  trading-post  by  the  river. 
But  instead  they  traded  off  some  of  the  con- 
tents and  hid  the  balance  in  their  wagon ; 
denying-  they  had  found  it.  But  the  men  on 
horseback  instituted  a  regular  search  of  the 
wag-on  and  found  the  other  articles. 

This  caused  the  important  train  captain,  D. 
to  mistreat  the  family  in  the  presence  of  these 
missionaries.  They  had  shown  special  sympa- 
thy toward  me  when  Captain  D.  undertook  to 
forbid  my  camping-  with  them,  and  this  g-ave 
me  an  opportunity  to  return  their  kindness,  es- 
pecially as  the  great  would-be  captain,  D.,  was 


324      Monnonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

the  aggressor  in  both  cases.  This  great  over- 
bearing- captain  had  been  schooled  in  absolute 
priestly  dominion,  and  his  poor,  unfortunate 
make-up  was  such  that  any  little  advice  or  di- 
rection given  him  by  these  head  missionaries, 
bloated  him  up  into  balloon  shape.  Poor  fel- 
low ;  I  pity  all  such.  Probably  they  were  or- 
dained of  old  to  this  condemnation. — Jude  4. 
They  must  be  endured  by  those  who  may  be 
ordained  or  chosen  in  Christ  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world. — Eph.  i:  4. 

The  old  brother's  apology  was  that  the  heads 
of  the  church  had  deceived  them  and  misled 
them  ;  had  broken  them  up  financially,  and  that 
the  whole  family  felt  they  were  but  getting 
evened-up  a  little  with  them. 

I  had  driven  ahead  of  the  train  and  reached 
the  stream  called  Big  Sandy  and  had  selected  a 
desirable  place  for  camping.  But  when  the 
captain  came  he  drove  to  another  part  of  the 
creek;  the  other  teams  let  him  g-o  and  he 
camped  alone,  thus  showing  him  he  was  not 
bossing  his  fellow  travelers.  But  how  hard  it 
is  to  subdue  that  bossing  spirit  in  some  people 
when  it  forms  about  ninety  per  cent,  of  their 


From  Green  River  to  St.  Joseph.        325 

make-up.  Would  that  we  could  possess  the 
spirit  of  Christ — the  spirit  of  "live  and  let 
live."  This  is  the  only  spirit  that  enables  man 
to  enjoy  himself  with  his  fellow.  It  is  the 
only  spirit  which  is  eternally  abiding". 

The  next  day  was  Sunday.  The  women 
wished  to  wash,  and  it  was  proposed  to  lie- 
over.  The  grass  here  was  very  short.  We 
had  heard  that  there  was  much  better  grass  on 
Little  Sandy  Creek,  some  eight  or  ten  miles 
ahead.  My  horses  were  now  rested  up ;  my 
wagon  and  load  light,  and  I  felt  like  taking*  a 
pleasure  trip  to  the  next  creek ;  and  should  I 
find  good  grass  I  would  remain  until  the  train 
could  come  up  next  day. 

In  this  I  was  taking*  Indian  risks,  but  it  was 

0 

understood  that  there  were  no  Indians  in  that 
part  at  that  time.  I  started  out,  struck  the 
creek  and  went  several  miles  down  it  to  find 
the  best  grass.  But  we  had  been  misinformed, 
the  grass  was  no  better  than  what  I  had  left. 
But  I  proposed  to  camp  alone  on  the  creek. 
We  acted  on  the  reports  that  there  were  no 
Indians  in  that  part  of  the  country,  and  were 
not  the  least  afraid. 


326      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refitted. 

About  two  hours  before  sundown  I  started 
out  on  a  hunt,  left  my  wife  and  the  babies 
down  on  the  creek  among  the  willows,  and 
when  I  had  been  gone  but  a  short  time  and  dis- 
tance I  found  several  groups  of  antelope,  I 
was  by  no  means  an  expert  hunter,  especially 
of  this  kind  of  game.  I  started  after  the  group 
of  antelope  nearest  by.  The  country  was  hilly 
with  large  bluffs  or  mounds.  I  sought  to  creep 
upon  them ;  but  I  had  evidently  attracted  their 
attention,  and  when  I  thought  I  had  crept  se- 
cretly upon  them  and  must  be  within  range, 
I  would  look  for  them  and  they  were  gone ; 
and  when  I  would  look  around  I  could  see  them 
on  some  distant  hill  looking  at  me.  Feeling 
anxious  to  secure  one  I  followed  them  around 
until  after  sundown,  and  before  I  was  aware  it 
was  dark,  and  I  had  lost  my  compass  bearing. 
I  did  not  know  in  what  particular  direction  to 
go  to  strike  my  camp.  True,  I  had  taken  some 
precaution  to  notice  the  distance  and  direction 
I  had  taken  before  I  had  found  the  antelope. 
But  I  had  got  completely  mixed  up  by  follow- 
ing them  around  ;  and  when  I  fully  realized 
that  I  must  be  getting  toward  my  wagon  and 


From  Green  River  to  St.  Joseph.        32V 

family,  I  could  not  recognize  any  object  to 
to  guide  me.  I  could  not  think  I  was  more 
than  three  or  four  miles  from  camp ;  but  I 
failed  to  see  any  object  that  I  had  intended 
should  guide  me  back.  Now  it  was  dark  and 
here  I  was  lost  in  the  night  among  the  hills 
and  the  antelope  ;  my  family  on  the  creek,  my 
wife  distressed  by  my  late  absence,  imagining 
everything  evil  to  have  befallen  me.  And  now 
unlike  animals,  which  by  instinct  can  always 
make  their  way  home,  I  had  no  instinct  to  as- 
sist me  in  my  return.  But  I  had  a  little  sense 
or  intelligence  left,  and  though  I  had  been  so 
completely  baffled  and  defeated  in  my  hunting 
undertaking.  I  knew  when  I  left  I  had  gone 
in  a  southwest  direction,  and  taking  the  north 
star  as  my  guide  I  started  off  to  the  northeast 
feeling  sure,  sooner  or  later,  I  should  strike  the 
creek.  Starting  off  in  haste,  guided  by  the 
star,  in  about  an  hour  I  reached  the  creek. 
I  knew  it  was  the  same  creek,  for  there  was  no 
other  within  ten  miles.  But  the  question  for 
me  to  settle  now,  what  part  of  the  creek  was  I 
at,  and  where  was  my  camp?  I  first  went 
down  into  the  water  to  find  out  which  way  the 


328      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

water  run.  That  settled,  I  crossed  on  the  oppo- 
site side.  I  had  driven  down  the  creek  during 
the  day  several  miles  on  this  side  prospecting* 
for  grass  and  thought  in  traveling*  up  that 
probably  I  should  strike  some  object  that  I 
might  recognize  and  determine  what  part  of 
the  creek  I  was  on  and  so  learn  which  way  to 
find  my  camp.  This  I  soon  found  out  by  find- 
ing objects  and  turns  in  the  creek  that  I  had 
noted  during  the  day.  I  now  knew  I  had 
struck  the  creek  below  where  I  was  camped ; 
and  it  was  but  a  matter  of  distance  to  find  my 
wagon.  Having  traveled  about  two  miles  up  I 
found  headquarters,  and  also  found  a  woman  in 
real  distress,  and  if  ever  a  husband  received  a 
multitude  of  varied  benedictions  from  a  wife,  it 
was  my  fortune  at  this  time.  She  had  given 
me  up  at  least  for  the  night,  had  put  the  chil- 
dren to  bed  and  they  were  asleep.  She  was  *  'wait- 
ing and  watching"  in  and  around  the  wagon  in 
dead  earnest.  She  heard  my  footsteps  at  a  dis- 
tance ;  but  did  not  dare  to  call  or  speak  until  I 
made  myself  known ;  then  she  was  over-joyed 
and  vexed  all  in  one.  She  was  so  pleased  she 
did  not  know  how  to  act,  and  yet  she  was  show- 


From  Green  River  to  St.  Joseph.        329 

ing*  such  a  mixture  of  joy  and  grief  as  I  have 
never  witnessed  before  or  since. 

It  is  said  of  teams  which  travel  much  on  the 
roads  that  an  uneven  road  is  the  easiest  on  the 
team ;  that  the  change  of  the  exercise  of  the 
muscles  going*  up  and  down  hills  acts  as  a  rest 
and  is  less  tiring  than  is  a  constant,  gradual 
strain  on  an  even  road  ;  and  I  have  been  led  to 
think  that  the  same  principle  is  true  of  human 
life ;  that  an  uneven  life  is  more  enjoyable  and 
more  profitable  in  its  final  results  than  is  a  life 
of  uniform  sameness. 

The  world  is  filled  up  with  variety  and  no 
doubt  it  is  best  to  be  so.  Human  life  is  made 
up  of  endless  variety ;  of  jo\rs  and  sorrows,  • 
and  no  doubt  any  and  all  circumstances  in  hu- 
man life  which  cause  vivid  joys  or  sorrows,  are 
conducive  to  the  greatest  good.  I  realized  this 
thought  in  the  incident  of  my  hunting  scrape, 
after  the  uncertainty  and  trouble  was  past ; 
how  grateful  and  happy  we  were.  We  realized 
the  worth  we  were  to  each  other.  This  little 
incident  acting  as  a  test  of  our  fidelity  and  in 
the  end  our  yoy  and  real  consolation  more  than 
balanced  the  anxiety  which  preceded  it.  I  have 


330      Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

never  thought  of  that  dear  woman  and  our 
children  in  that  place  and  condition  but  my 
love  and  sympathy  were  increased  toward  her. 
The  strongest  ties  and  affections  in  human  life 
are  generated  in  those  who  pass  together 
through  the  most  critical  trials  in  the  journey 
of  life.  * '  Jonathan  and  David  ' '  is  proof  of  this, 
and  the  most  sacred  part  of  human  life  is  made 
up  of  such. 

The  night  passed  off  quietly.  We  were  un- 
molested. Next  morning  I  set  fire  to  some  of 
the  large  bunches,  of  dry  willows,  which  raised 
a  great  smoke  in  the  country,  not  knowing 
that  smoke  was  an  Indian  sign  for  gathering 
together.  While  waiting  for  the  arrival  of 
our  train,  unconscious  of  having  attracted  any 
attention  by  the  smoking  willows,  there  rode 
upon  us  a  Mexican  clothed  in  buckskin.  He 
was  sent  by  his  employer  (an  Indian  trader)  to 
see  the  occasion  of  the  smoke.  Finding  me 
there  alone  with  my  family  he  invited  me  to 
join  their  train,  and  told  me  I  had  raised  the 
Indian  sign  by  the  smoke,  and  if  there  had  been 
any  Indians  in  or  around  that  part  I  should 
have  drawn  them  to  me.  I  now  felt  alarmed 


From  Green  River  to  St.  Joseph.        331 

at  my  own  ignorance  and  conduct.  The  Indian 
trader  was  returning-  to  St.  Joseph,  Mo.  He 
had  a  large  wagon  and  ox  team  and  a  great 
many  ponies. 

Our  train  came  up  and  camped  a  little  below 
me  on  the  creek.  The  Indian  trader  had 
camped  still  below.  I  had  promised  the  Mexi- 
can I  would  visit  their  camp  after  the  balance 
of  our  train  came  up,  and  let  them  know 
whether  we  would  travel  with  them  or  not. 
Several  of  the  families  with  their  teams  went 
along  and  we  agreed  to  travel  with  the  trader, 
and  Captain  D.  being  left  alone  had  to  fall  in. 
We  were  no  longer  troubled  with  him  as  an 
officious  captain. 

After  going  down  and  joining  the  trader's 
camp  the  boss  ordered  his  man,  Friday,  (for  that 
was  the  name  of  his  cook)  to  get  us  up  the  best 
meal  he  was  able,  as  a  treat,  and  surely  Man 
Friday  got  us  up  a  treat.  We  had  never  tasted 
coffee  during  our  stay  in  Salt  Lake  up  to  that 
time.  At  this  time  coffee  was  at  par  with  us, 
and  I  feel  sure  no  Dutchman  ever  drank  more 
lager  beer  in  the  same  time  than  I  drank  coffee 
on  that  occasion.  I  felt  like  a  boy  eating 


332      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

watermelon.  I  did  not  know  when  I  had 
enough.  The  circumstances  and  occasion  were 
so  different  and  enjoyable  from  anything-  I  had 
experienced  in  Salt  Lake  that  I  felt  the  year  of 
jubilee  had  come. 

Next  day  we  moved  up  toward  the  South 
Pass  ;  we  were  now  a  formidable  train,  and  felt 
we  were  strong-  in  the  way  of  self-protection 
ag-ainst  straggling-  Indians.  Nothing  occurring 
specially  for  several  days,  I  would  occasionally 
run  ahead  with  my  horse  team  ;  for  I  had  the 
only  horse  team  in  the  train. 

As  we  were  dropping  down  on  Sweetwater 
River  this  side  the  backbone  of  the  mountains, 
I  drove  on  ahead  and  came  to  an  alkali  swamp 
on  the  main  road.  Where  the  teams  crossed  it 
looked  very  soft  and  miry,  so  I  undertook  to 
cross  on  what  to  me  seemed  dry  and  solid. 
But  driving  in  I  found  out  my  mistake,  for  my 
horses  and  wagon  sunk  down  and  mired,  and  it 
was  with  difficulty  after  unhitching  my  team 
from  the  wagon  that  I  could  get  it  out.  The 
train  had  already  passed  and  there  was  but  one 
man  who  was  behind  the  train  to  assist  me. 
After  getting  out  my  team  I  had  to  take  out 


From  Green  River  to  St.  Joseph.        333 

everything  in  my  wagon  and  carry  it  out  my- 
self. Then  I  had  to  take  the  wagon  apart  and 
work  it  across  by  hand ;  and  I  felt  after  I  had 
got  everything  together  again  ready  to  start,  I 
had  paid  very  dear  for  my  venture  on  the  new 
crossing  of  an  alkali  swamp. 

I  find  at  this  writing  that  my  life  has  been 
fraught  with  new  attempts  or  ventures.  Some 
times  they  have  proven  for  the  best,  and  at 
other  times  it  would  appear  not  as  much  so. 
But  in  no  case  have  these  changes  been  totally 
fruitless,  for  they  have  always  proved  to  be  a 
school  teacher  and  have  conferred  knowledge 
in  the  operation. 

Nothing  particular  occurs  in  our  travel  until 
we  reach  the  crossing  of  the  north  fork  of  the 
Platte  River.  It  was  too  high  to  ford  and  we 
must  needs  drive  down  to  the  bridge  to  cross. 
We  had  no  money  to  pay  the  bridgeman,  but 
the  trader  ptirposed  lying  over  about  ten  (lays 
to  trade,. and  most  of  us  stayed  with  him. 

There  was  a  company  of  U.  S.  soldiers 
stationed  at  this  point.  While  remaining  here 
we  worked  some  in  a  rock  quarry  to  pay  the 
bridgeman  for  crossing  on  his  bridge. 


334      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

Having"  to  stay  here  some  ten  days  I  turned 
my  horses  out  on  the  range.  I  left  on  one  of 
them  a  picket  rope  so  I  could  better  catch  them, 
and  by  some  means  the  rope  caught  in  the  heel 
of  a  hind  shoe  and  threw  my  best  horse  down 
and  the  wolves  ruined  it ;  they  ate  and  tore  it 
so  badly  that  after  I  had  brought  it  into  camp 
I  had  to  kill  it.  This  accident  for  the  time  be- 
ing was  among  the  severest  trials  I  had  ever 
met  with  since  my  connection  with  the  Mor- 
mons. I  now  had  but  one  horse,  half  a  team, 
and  had  some  seven  hundred  miles  to  travel. 
I  think  at  this  time  when  I  had  to  kill  and 
throw  my  best  horse  into  the  river  to  dispose  of 
it,  it  was  the  most  heartfelt  grief  and  trial  I 
ever  underwent  in  my  life.  Here  I  was  five 
hundred  miles  from  Salt  Lake  and  seven  hun- 
dred from  the  most  available  stopping  point  at 
that  time.  I  remember  after  I  had  disposed  of 
my  horse  in  the  river,  sitting  down  on  the  river 
bank,  meditating  on  my  fortunes  and  misfor- 
tunes in  life,  and  especially  what  I  had  brought 
upon  myself  by  means  of  Mormonism  that  my 
very  soul  was  crushed  down  with  grief  and  dis- 
appointment. Then  it  was  I  felt  again  that 


From  Green  River  to  St.  Joseph.        335 

God  alone  could  see  me  safe  through  life. 
But  my  very  soul  now  was  distressed.  The 
trader  proposed  to  take  my  family  into  his 
wag-on  and  give  them  passage  to  the  Missouri 
River.  But  my  wife  positively  refused,  doubt- 
ing the  purity  of  his  motive.  She  proposed  to 
stay  at  this  point,  do  washing  for  the  soldiers 
Until  something  better  might  offer  in  our  favor, 
rather  than  give  a  designing  man  any  advantage 
on  account  of  pretended  kindness. 

The  circumstances  of  my  losing  my  horse 
had  reached  the  captain  of  the  company  of  sol- 
diers and  he  at  once  sent  for  me  to  know  the 
particulars.  After  I  had  stated  the  matter,  he 
said,  "You  are  traveling  with  a  cattle  train, 
and  you  do  not  necessarily  need  a  horse  team." 
So  he  proposed  to  see  that  I  had  a  sufficiently 
good  yoke  of  cattle,  as  there  were  broken  cattle 
for  sale  at  this  point,  and  he  would  take  my 
other  horse,  which  was  but  a  good  Indian  pony, 
and  at  least,  said  he,  "I  will  see  that  you  have 
sufficient  money  to  pay  for  the  cattle."  He 
had  me  bring  up  the  pony,  saying,  *  *  I  will  give 
you  a  hundred  dollars  for  your  pony,  and  we 
will  take  it  into  the  U.  S.  service,  and  you 


336      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

shall  have  a  team  to  go  on  your  trip  independ- 
ent of  any  other  party."  I  took  the  hundred 
dollars,  got  a  reliable,  well  broken  yoke  of  cat- 
tle for  eighty  dollars ;  and  now  had  twenty 
dollars  in  gold  to  jingle  in  my  pocket.  I  now 
realized  the  truth  and  force  of  that  consoling 
scripture,  "Weeping  may  endure  for  a  night, 
but  joy  cometh  in  the  morning."-— Psalm  xxx:  5. 
I  was  now  all  right  again,  thankful  to  God  for 
having  moved  the  heart  of  "Uncle  Sam"  to 
remove  my  burden. 

There  were  some  four  families  of  us  leaving 
the  Mormon  church,  and  we  were  all  almost 
out  of  provisions.  I  stated  the  facts  to  this 
same  captain,  and  he  had  rations  issued  to  us 
to  serve  us  to  Fort  Laramie  and  told  us  to  ap- 
ply at  the  Fort  and  they  would  supply  us  to 
Fort  Kearney.  We  were  now  well  supplied 
with  articles  of  food  that  we  had  been  deprived 
of  all  the  time  we  were  dwelling  with  the  pre- 
tended Saints  in  their  latter-day  Zion. 

While  we  were  waiting  here  at  this  point 
the  four  parties  from  Payson,  who  had  purposed 
going  to  California,  having  changed  their 
minds,  turned  to  the  East  and  caught  up  with 


From  Green  River  to  St.  Joseph.        337 

us  here  ;  and  we  had  quite  a  time  of  rejoicing-  at 
our  meeting-  and  deliverance  from  Mormon  bond- 
age. We  now  traveled  together  and  had  pleas- 
ant, enjoyable  company  the  rest  of  our  journey. 
Not  wishing  to  stay  longer  at  this  place,  and  as 
the  trader  was  delayed  in  his  business,  we  four 
families- started  on  by  ourselves.  Captain  D. 
had  not  stopped  here.  We  traveled  quietly 
and  leisurely  to  Port  Laramie,  calling-  there 
and  making-  our  condition  known  to  the  officer. 
We  were  ag-ain  supplied  with  all  needed  pro- 
visions to  take  us  to  Port  Kearney.  Passing 
Port  lyaramie  we  again  saw  the  place  and 
marks  of  the  unfortunate  soldiers  who  f^ere 
slaughtered  by  the  Indians  as  we  went  out  to 
Salt.  Lake,  and  for  which  that  tribe  of  Indians 
suffered  such  a  retribution  the  following-  year 
by  General  Harney  at  Ash  Hollow.  We  trav- 
eled several  hundred  miles  before  the  trader 
caug-ht  up  with  us.  But  before  we  reached 
Port  Kearney-  we  were  informed  that  there 
was  trouble  with  the  Indians,  which  had  arisen 
from  or  with  government  trains  passing  on  the 
road.  Travel  was  stopped  and  we  collected  at 
Port  Kearney. 

22 


338      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

The  Platte  River  bottom  at  this  time  was 
literally  covered  with  buffalo.  We  traveled  in 
the  midst  of  them  for  a  week.  No  one,  only  by 
sight,  could  believe  or  have  any  conception  of 
the  vast  multitudes  of  these  animals.  They 
would  give  way  before  us  as  we  traveled  and 
close  in  behind  us ;  so  we  were  in  a  circle  of 
buffaloes  for  several  days.  Our  train  killed 
twenty-three,  and  we  had  all  the  buffalo  beef 
we  could  possibly  wish. 

Our  baby  boy  had  not  been  well  from  his 
birth.  Our  neighbor  Mormons  in  Salt  Lake 
had  predicted  if  we  should  undertake  to  cross 
the  plains  we  should  lose  him.  He  had  not  im- 
proved any  up  to  the  time  we  struct  the 
buffalo.  He  was  truly  a  baby  of  bones,  he  was 
so  lean.  When  we  began  to  "cook  the  fresh 
buffalo  meat  he  appeared  wild  to  have  some. 
He  had  been  troubled  with  dysentery  and  was 
thus  reduced  by  it.  His  mother  thought  to 
give  him  fresh  meat  would  surely  kill  him. 
But  he  craved  it  so  very  much,  she  said,  "I 
will  give  him  some  if  it  does  injure  him." 
She  fixed  him  up  some  of  the  meat  and  soup, 
and  I  state  this  as  a  fact  to  those  it  may  con- 


From.  Green  River  to  St.  Joseph.        339 

cern,  that  I  never  saw  a  little  human  set  of 
bones  enjoy  anything"  like  it  in  my  life.  He 
now  had  all  he  could  eat,  and- in  a  few  days  we 
saw  an  almost  miraculous  change  in  him  for 
the  better ;  and  in  two  weeks  he  was  hearty 
and  fat*  He  is  now  more  than  an  average  full 
grown  man  thirty-nine  years  of  age,  and  is 
likely  to  live  thirty-nine  years  more.  I  write 
this  much  on  the  treatment  of  babies  for  the 
good  of  coming"  generations.  I  have  been  more 
in  favor  of  allowing'  sick  people  to  have  what 
their  system  may  crave,  than  holding  it  from 
them,  ever  since. 

But  we  are  now  delayed  at  Port  Kearney, 
awaiting  the  subsiding  of  Indian  troubles. 
We  have  caught  up  with  Capt.  D.,  and  we  are 
quite  a  collection  of  apostate  Mormons,  Indian 
traders,  etc.  A  new  Mormon  prophet,  by  the 
name  of  Potter,  afterwards  called  '  *  Potter 
Christ,"  had  come  up.  He  was  on  his  way  to 
Washington  to  ask  Congress  to  cede  to  him 
Jackson  County,  Missouri,  for  the  purpose  of 
building  up  the  true  Mormon  Zion.  He  had 
been  proclaiming  in  Salt  Lake,  through  the 
past  winter,  that  Brigham  Young  was  a  false 


340      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

prophet,  and  had  led  the  whole  church  into  an 
apostate  state,  and  that  the  church  was  now  in 
transgression,  and  that  unless  it  should  be  re- 
stored to  what  it  was  when  Joseph  Smith  insti- 
tuted it,  the  judgments  of  God  would  overtake 
it  and  destroy  its  present  leaders,  and  raise  up 
a  new  prophet  to  lead  it.  He  had  publicly 
warned  the  church,  especially  the  heads,  and 
they  had  not  regarded  the  warning  which  God 
had  sent  him  to  proclaim.  "And  now,"  said 
he,  4<  in  a  short  time  the  judgments  of  God  will 
fall  upon  the  people  in  Utah,"  the  leaders 
would  be  destroyed,  and  God  had  called  him  to 
reorganize  the  church  with  headquarters  at  In- 
dependence, Jackson  County,  Missouri ;  and 
that  -now  he  was  on  his  way  to  Washington  to 
have  the  government  cede  to  him  Jackson  Coun- 
ty as  a  preliminary  toward  the  reorganization 
of  the  church.  He  overtook  us  a  few  days  be- 
fore we  reached  Fort  Kearney.  He  was  free 
and  communicative  on  his  supposed-to-be  divine 
undertaking,  and  I  was  just  as  free  to  listen  to 
all  he  had  to  say.  In  fact,  he  was  soon  under 
the  impression  that  I  was  favorable  to  his  mis- 
sion. I  had  intended  it  to  go  that  way,  so  I 


From  Green  River  to  St.  Joseph.        341 

could  get  to  the  bottom  of  his  plan,  and  I  should 
have  a  favorable  opportunity  to  criticise  it.  I 
listened  to  all  he  had  to  say  on  the  matter,  and 
suggested  to  him  that  if  he  was  favorable  I 
should  like  to  have  a  long*  private  interview 
with  him  on  the  subject.  He  at  once  consent- 
ed. He  was  evidently  under  the  impression 
that  there  was  something  really  divine  about 
the  matter,  which  led  me  the  more  anxiously 
to  test  him.  I  arranged  with  him  that  after  we 
had  got  into  camp  that  evening*,  and  camp  work 
was  done,  we,  by  ourselves,  would  retire  from 
the  camp  and  thoroughly  talk  the  matter  over. 
I  told  him  I  was  a  hearty  candidate  for  any  and 
all  that  I  could  conceive  to  be  good  and  true. 
After  supper  I  went  to  him,  inviting  him  to 
take  a  walk.  We  walked  quite  a  distance  from 
the  camp,  and  sat  down  on  the  grass.  I  had 
heard  sufficient  of  the  particulars  already  to 
satisfy  me  it  was  another  manifestation  of  re- 
ligious humbug.  I  felt  sure  our  conference 
would  be  very  short.  I  had  already  had  some 
experience  among'  false  and  deceptive  religion- 
ists. 

I  said  to  him,    "Now,   Bro.   Potter,   in  order 


342      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

to  get  the  information  I  most  need,  allow  me  to 
ask  a  few  questions."  To  this  he  readily  gave 
his  consent.  I  said  to  him,  "Bro.  Potter,  you 
say  the  Lord  has  revealed  this  matter  to  you." 
He  answered  that  he  had.  I  said,  "Please  tell 
me  where  you  were  when  the  Lord  made  this 
known  to  you."  He  said  he  was  at  home,  in 
his  feed  lot.  I  asked  him  what  he  was  doing*. 
He  said  he  was  husking  fodder ,,  I  then  asked 
him  how  the  Lord  made  this  known  to  him. 
He  paused  awhile  as  though  he  did  not  under- 
stand me.  I  then  said  to  him,  "  Did  you  see 
any  one?"  He  answered,  "No. "  I  asked 
him  if  he  heard  any  one  speaking,  as  an  audible 
voice.  He  said  he  did  not.  Then  I  said  £o 
him,  "Please  tell  me  by  what  means  these 
things  were  made  known  to  you."  Here  he 
was  at  a  total  loss  for  an  answer.  I  asked  if. 
these  things  had  just  occurred  to  his  mind  with- 
out any  sensible  manifestation,  and  at  once  he 
rose  to  his  feet  in  haste,  saying,  "Your  horns 
are  too  large  to  enter  the  kingdom,  and  I  wish 
no  more  to  do  with  you."  I  answered  him, 
saying,  "We  are  about  even  on  that  part  of 
the  programme."  After  this  it  was  no  trouble 


From  Green  River  to  St.  Joseph.        343 

for  me  to  keep  out  of  his  way,  for  he  gave  him- 
self special  trouble  to  avoid  me.  I  was  after 
this  unable  to  approach  him  on  any  subject. 
This  is  a.fac-simile  of  old  Joseph  Smith.  Any 
one  carefully  reading*  the  history  of  Smith  will 
see  that  his  peculiar  religious  pretensions  to 
visions,  divine  revelations  and  inspirations  are 
as  unreal,  speaking-  from  the  sense  standpoint,  as 
were  "Potter  Christ's,"  only  Smith  had  more 
daring-  and  brass  when  confronted  with  criti- 
cisms. 

And  now  what  shall  I  say  to  these  thing's  ? 
"Potter  Christ"  appeared  to  honestly  believe 
his  claims  were  divinely  founded.  I  ask  here, 
is  such  mental  weakness  ?  Is  it  a  phase  of  in- 
sanity, or  are  men  and  women  subject  to  the  in- 
fluence of  good  and  evil  spirits,  as  the  case  may 
be?  The  Bible,  all  througfh,  says,  Yes,  men  and 
women  are  subject  to  the  influence  of  the  g-ood 
and  evil  spirit,  or  spirits.  My  own  experience, 
if  it  is  worth  anything-  to  me,  "corroborates  this 
as  a  fact. 

I  ask  ag-ain,  Is  human  life,  religiously  con- 
sidered, a  warfare  of  gx>od  and  evil  spirits,  as 
the  Bible  would  appear  to  set  forth — Christ 


344      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

being  the  author  of  the  good  seed  (the  wheat) 
in  the  field — the  world,  and  the  devil  being  the 
author  of  the  bad  seed  (the  tares)  in  the  field — 
the  world?  If  this  be  the  case  or  condition  of 
mankind  in  relation  to  God  and  one  another, 
what  shall  we  say  then  ?  '  'Por  who  hath  [or  can] 
resisted  his  will  ?  Hath  not  the  potter  power 
over  the  clay,  of  the  same  lump  to  make  one 
vessel  unto  honor  and  another  unto  dishonor  ;  " 
44  Por  it  is  not  of  him  that  willeth  nor  of  him 
that  runneth,  but  of  God,  whoshoweth  mercy." 
44  What  if  God,  willing  to  show  his  wrath,  en- 
dured with  much  long-suffering  the  vessels  of 
wrath  fitted  for  destruction"-— but  at  this  point 
and  on  this  subject  I  refer  the  reader  to  the 
9th  chapter  of  Romans,  as  I  expect  to  consider 
this  subject  after  I  pass  the  Mormons.  . 

The  Indian  troubles  being  about  over,  we 
started  from  Kearney  on  our  journey.  Prom 
this  point  the  train  divided,  taking  different 
roads  to  different  points  on  the  Missouri  River. 
The  trouble  with  the  Indians  had  been  on  the 
Little  Blue,  and  this  was  our  route  to  reach  the 
river  at  St.  Joseph.  We  pulled  off  from  the 
main  road  at  night  to  avoid  contact  with  the 


From  Green  River  to  St.  Joseph.        345 

Indians ;  made  no  fire  or  light  in  the  night,  so 
as  not  to  attract  their  attention.  We  were 
anxious  to  avoid  an  interview  with  them,  know- 
ing- they  were  on  the  war-path.  But  after 
turning-  off  to  one  side  one  evening-  to  camp,  and 
remaining-  silent,  without  fire  or  lig'ht,  we  sup- 
posed next  morning-  we  should  strike  the 
Little  Blue  River  below  where  the  Indians 
were  supposed  to  be  camped.  We  had  just 
got  on  to  the  main  road  on  the  river,  sup- 
posing- we  were  a  few  miles  below  the  red 
skins,  when  to  our  sttrprise  and  dread  we  saw 
them  coming*  out  of  the  timber,  with  lances, 
mounted  on  horseback,  as  thoug-h  in  real  war 
attitude.  They  headed  our  train.  We  were 
only  four  wagons.  But  that  made  no  differ- 
ence, for  they  were  sufficiently  strong-  in  number, 
and  equipped  for  war,  so  that  they  could  have 
slaughtered  us  in  a  few  moments.  They 
marched  out  of  the  timber  in  single  file,  with 
lances  held  erect,  and  heading  our  train,  call- 
ed on  us  to  halt.  The  women  were  still  in  bed 
in  the  wagons,  for  we  had  started  off  by 
daylight,  hoping  to  escape  them.  When  we 
stopped,  my  wife  raised  the  front  curtain  of  the 


346      Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

wagon  cover  and  looked  out  to  see  the  occasion 
of  our  stopping-,  and  seeing-  some  fifty  Indian 
warriors  apparently  ready  to  massacre  all  be- 
fore them,  she  could  not  persuade  herself  that 
the  scene  was  real,  but  thoug-ht  it  must  be  a 
dream.  The  trader  had  one  man  who  could 
speak  the  Indian  lang-uag-e,  and  he  proposed  to 
make  them  presents  of  all  such  articles  as  we 
could  possibly  spare ;  so  we  escaped  with  our 
lives.  But  the  trader,  being-  more  acquainted 
with  the  Indians  on  their  war  path,  was  per- 
fectly white  with  fear.  For  my  own  part,  I 
was  not  the  least  alarmed.  They  took  from 
us  poor  travelers  what  we  really  needed  ;  but 
we  were  glad  to  get  off  so  well,  and  we  were 
now  only  about  one  hundred  miles  from  the 
river,  or  St.  Joseph. 

We  moved  on  after  this  quietly,  crossing  the 
Big  Blue  at  Marshall's  ford.  Our  journey  now 
was  fast  drawing  to  a  close,  for  we  all  purposed 
to  go  to  the  river. 

At  this  time  we  found  there  was  trouble 
among  the  settlers  of  Kansas.  The  question 
of  difference  was,  Shall  Kansas  be  a  slave  or 
free  State  ?  The  two  parties  went  under  the 


From  Green  River  to  St.  Joseph.        347 

names  of  Pro-slavery  and  Free-soil.  I  was  in- 
nocent and  ignorant  of  these  issues  at  that 
time.  I  had  been-kept  busy  managing1  and  con- 
tending1 with  the  Mormons  for  my  own  rights 
and  deliverance,  and  which  was  well-nigfh,  as  a 
struggle,  finished. 

While  camped  within  fifty  miles  of  the  river, 
I  met  a  free-soil  man,  who  had  been  scared  by 
the  pro-slavery  people  out  of  Doniphan  County. 
He  had  taken  a  claim  on  a  quarter-section  of 
land  some  three  miles  south  of  Troy,  the  coun- 
ty seat,  thoug-h  there  was  no  Troy  or  county 
seat  at  that  time.  The  man's  name  I  give  as 
C—  — .  He  referred  me  to  a  person  that  lived 
near  his  claim.  He  had  some  little  improve- 
ments on  his  land — a  log"  cabin,  some  corn, 
pumpkins,  and  potatoes.  I  agreed  to  look  at 
the  place,  see  the  man  referred  to,  and  take  it, 
if  it  should  suit  me.  At  this  time  I  had  not 
even  thought  about  what  I  mig'ht  do,  or  where 
I  mig-ht  settle,  leaving-  every  step  as  I  took  it 
to  say  what  the  next  should  be.  My  prefer- 
ence had  been  when  I  started  from  Salt  Lake, 
to  g-o  back  to  or  near  Kansas  City,  where  we 
had  left  tlie  river  for  Salt  Lake.  Next  day 


348      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

(Sunday)  we  arrived  at  what  is  known  as  the 
Cottonwood  spring",  near  Troy.  The  stream 
from  this  spring-  runs  throug'h  the  claim  re- 
ferred to.  I  went  down  the  branch  or  stream, 
saw  the  land  and  improvements,  and  was  not 
induced  at  that  time  to  purchase. 

Next  day  we  came  in  sight  of  the  Missouri 
River,  and  when  we  sa*w  it  we  waved  our  hats 
rejoicingly,  feeling'  that  we  saw  the  end  of  our 
journey. 

We  have  now  camped  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  Missouri  River,  opposite  the  city  of  St. 
Joseph.  We  felt  fully  free  from  Mormon  bond- 
age, our  journey  at  an  end,  and  we  must  com- 
mence life  anew,  or  a  new  life  under  different 
circumstances  and  new  associations. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 
THE    CHRISTIAN   RELIGION    DEFINED    AND 

PROVEN: 

I  HAD  now  my  yoke  of  oxen  and  wagon  and 
twenty  dollars  in*  money.  The  whole 
wardrobe  of  clothing*  for  the  family  was  in  a 
hundred-pound  flour  sack,  and  not  much  crowd- 
ed. But  we  had  our  conscience  void  of  offense 
toward  God  and  man  ;  had  youth  and  health  in 
our  favor,  and  had  been  raised  to  and  knew 
nothing  better  than  honest  labor.  Though 
strangers  in  the  midst  of  strangers,  we  saw 
that  everything  in  a  new  country  offered  in- 
ducement to  industry  and  economy,  and  these 
we  took  as  the  main  planks  in  our  platform. 
We  have  now  got  through  with  Mormonism  in 
the  direct  sense  of  our  associations  with  them  ; 
yet  we  expect  it  will  be  long  before  we  are  free 
from  the  bruises  and  scars  of  poverty  which  it 
had  entailed  upon  us  while  in  the  struggle.  I 
shall  now  leave  my  direct  experience  among 
the  Mormons,  and  undertake  a  review  of  the 

(349) 


350      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

whole  system,  with  an  eye  to  refuting-  and  dis- 
proving it  as  a  divine  religious  institution.  I 
shall  undertake  to  prove  that  Joseph  Smith  was 
not  a  godly  man,  was  not  a  prophet  of  God, 
and  that  his  pretended  visions  and  revelations 
were  either  from  beneath — from  the  Evil  One— 
or  the  outgrowth  of  a  very  unfavorable  human 
make-up,  which  naturally  developed  itself  in 
the  system  called  Mormonism — Smith  being  its 
founder,  Rigdon,  with  many  others,  figuring 
with  him,  largely  assisting,  and  Brigham 
Young,  with  a  number  of  his  coadjutors,  per- 
petuating it  as  we  now  find  it  developed  in 
Utah. 

Claiming,  as  I  have,  that  Joseph  Smith  was 
a  false  prophet,  and  instituted  a  false  system 
of  religion,  necessarily  implies  the  existence  of 
a  true  religion ;  and  admitting,  as  I  am  free  to 
do,  that  there  is  a  true  religion,  it  would  neces- 
sarily devolve  on  me  to  set  forth  the  true  in 
order  that  by  contrast  the  false  may  become 
the  more  apparent.  It  would  be  impossible  for 
me  to  prove  Joseph  Smith  a  false  prophet,  and 
the  Mormon  system  of  religion  which  Smith 
started  and  in  connection  with  Rigdon,  Young, 


The  Christian  Religion  Defined.        351 

and  others,  developed,  to  be  false,  unless  I 
should  have  a  demonstrated  standard  by  which 
to  test  it.  And  I  here  take  the  position,  and 
shall  endeavor  to  sustain  it,  that  the  true  re- 
ligion, which  rebinds  sinful  man  to  his  God,  is 
that  contained  in  the  New  Testament  part  of 
the  Bible.  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  in  the 
New  Testament  have  set  forth  what  man  must 
do  to  be  saved.  It  is  said  of  Jesus  that  he 
should  save  his  people  from  his  sins.  Mat.  i : 
21.  When  a  person  is  saved  from  sin  he  is 
saved  in  fact.  Sin  is  a  transgression  of  the 
law.  1  John  iii :  4.  All  unrighteousness  is 
sin.  1  John  v :  17.  The  strength  of  sin  [na- 
ture of  sin]  is  the  law.  1  Cor.  xv :  56.  Where 
there  is  no  law  there  is  no  transgression.  Rom. 
iv  :  15.  Man  is  free  from  Adam's  sin  by  Christ. 
To  be  saved  from  our  past  personal  sins  we 
must  be  pardoned,  or  suffer  the  penalty  due 
them.  In  our  present  personal  salvation  from 
sin,  the  person  must  repent — abstain  from  all 
appearance  of  evil.  1  Thess.  v :  22.  Must  put 
away  lying,  speaking  the  truth  to  all  his  neigh- 
bors. The  sun  must  not  go  down  on  his  wrath  ; 
if  he  has  stolen,  he  must  steal  no  more ;  but 


352      Morntonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

let  him  labor,  working"  with  his  hands  the  thing 
which  is  good,  that  he  may  have  to  give  to  him 
that  needeth.  He  must  let  no  corrupt  commu- 
nication proceed  out  of  his  mouth,  but  that 
which  is  good.  He  is  to  let  all  bitterness,  and 
wrath,  and  anger,  and  clamor,  and  evil  speak- 
ing be  put  away  from  him,  with  all  malice.  He 
must  be  kind  to  all,  tender-hearted,  forgiving 
others  even  as  God  for  Christ's  sake  may  have 
forgiven  -him.  Eph.  iv :  25-32.  Whatsoever 
he  would  that  men  should  do  unto  him,  he  should 
do  unto  them.  Mat.  vii :  12.  Such  a  person, 
having  restored  whatever  he  may  have  been 
able  to  restore  to  any  and  all  persons  whom  he 
may  have  defrauded,  Zacchasus-like,  may  be  said 
to  be  saved.  Luke  xix :  9.  The  person  who 
believes  and  confides  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Sa- 
viour of  mankind,  relying  on  Jesus  as  the  way, 
the  truth,  and  the  life — John  xiv :  6 ;  the  per- 
son who  has  been  led  by  these  truths  and  God's 
divine  assistance  (whatever  that  divine  assist- 
ance may  embrace),  of  pro vi.de nee,  or  of  the 
grace  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  is  born  of  God,  regen- 
erated, converted,  born  of  the  Spirit,  born  of 
the  word  of  truth,  and  has  passed  from  death 


The  Christian  Religion  Defined.        353 

unto  life.  He  is  sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
promise,  and  has  the  earnest,  or  foretaste  of 
the  heavenly  inheritance  of  the  purchased  pos- 
session. Eph.  i :  13,  14.  He  is  an  heir  of  God 
and  a  joint  heir  with  Christ.  Rom.  viii :  17. 
He  rejoiceth  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory.  1  Pet.  i :  8.  -  He  is  free  from  sin  and 
become  a  servant  of  God.  Rom.  vi :  22.  He  is 
delivered  from  the  power  of  darkness  and  is 
translated  into  the  kingdom  of  God's  Son.  Col. 
i :  13.  Such  a  person  is  a  Christian,  a  member 
of  Christ's  church.  He  is  religious  in  the 
divine,  New  Testament  sense.  If  he  lives,  he 
liveth  unto  the  Lord ;  if  he  dieth,  he  dieth  unto 
the  Lord :  Whether  he  liveth,  therefore,  or 
dieth,  he  is  the  Lord's.  Rom.  xiv :  8.  Such-  a 
person,  by  the  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
maintaining  such  a  state  of  mind,  is  perfectly 
,fe  here  in  this  world  and  for  all  eternity, 
s  is  the  religion  of  the  New  Testament. 
This  is  the  religion  or  rebinding  of  man  to  his 
God.  This  is  the  prodigal  son  truly  received 
back  to  his  home.  Such  a  state  of  mind  and 
soul  no  infidel  or  atheist,  no  sound-minded  per- 
son, can  object  to.  It  is  simply  moral  excel- 
23 


354      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted.  ' 

lency  and  dignity  combined.  Such  a  religion  as 
this  admits  of  no  opposition  from  a  reasonable, 
intelligent,  honest  standpoint.  It  is  simply 
self-evident,  and  as  one  has  truly  said,  "To 
have  it  is  to  know  it,  and  not  to  know  it  is  not 
to  have  it."  The  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness 
with  our  spirit  that  we  are  the  children  of  God. 
Having  received  the  spirit  of  adoption,  where- 
by we  cry,  Abba,  Father — my  father.  We  set 
up  this  standard  as  the  basis  of  true  religion, 
which  is  strictly  personal,  and  which  can  be  at- 
tained and  maintained  as  an  individual  matter 
between  the  person  and  his  God,  without  the 
assistance  or  interference  of  any  organic  relig- 
ious system  known  in  our  day,  much  less  that 
set' up  by  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  Sidney  Rigdon, 
and  perpetuated  by  their  followers. 

Such  a  religion  as  I  have  but  briefly  set  forth 
in  the  foregoing  is  strictly  personal  and  not  or- 
ganic, and  can  and  may  be  attained  and  main- 
tained by  God's  assistance,  with  the  Bible, 
even  if  Joseph  Smith,  Sidney  Rigdon,  Brigham 
Young,  and  their  host  of  lesser  lights  had 
never  been  born.  The  system  of  religion  made 
manifest  by  God  through  Jesus  Christ  and  his 


Christian  Relig'ion  Defined.        355 

apostles,  in  spirit,  in  real  life  character  and  or- 
ganic structure,  is  as  unlike  the  system  of  Mor- 
monism,  or  Latter-day  Saintism,  as  God,  its 
author,  is  unlike  Satan,  the  author  of  all  false 
religions. 

I  shall  endeavor  to  show  that  the  system  of 
religion  established  by  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
apostles  was  from  heaven.  It  was  pure  in  its 
principles,  unselfish  in  its  demeanor,  and  was 
of  God ;  while  that  of  Joseph  Smith  descended 
not  from  above,  but  is  earthly,  sensual,  devil- 
ish. Jas.  iii :  15. 

The  fact  that  a  person  may  become  acquaint- 
ed with  the  will  of  God  in  relation  to  himself 
and  his  fellow  by  means  of  the  study  of  the 
Bible,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  is  given  to 
every  one  to  profit  withal.  1  Cor.  xii :  7.  And 
is  given  to  them  that  obey  him,  Acts  v :  32. 
The  fact  that  the  scripture  given  by  inspiration 
is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  cor- 
rection, for  instruction  in  righteousness :  that 
the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly 
furnished  unto  all  good  works,  2  Tim.  iii:  16, 
17  ;  the  fact  that  a  person  can,  and  in  very 
many  instances  does,  believe  heartily  ' '  that 


356      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

God  is,  and  that  he  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that 
diligently  seek  him,"  Heb.  xi :  6;  and  that 
such  a  person  does  truly  repent  of  his  sins,  turn 
away  from  them,  and  is  brought  into  justified 
relation  to  God  by  his  individual  research,  with- 
out the  aid  of  any  organic  religious  system, 
proves  that  such  organic  systems  as  Mormon- 
ism  are  not  in  any  way  essential  to  salvation, 
in  the  sense  of  Christianity  as  recorded  in  the 
New  Testament.  To  make  the,  matter  plain  : 
If  I  can  hy  the  study  of  the  Bible  make  myself 
acquainted  with  my  true  relation  to  God,  and 
believe  that  God  is  the  rewarder  of  all  who 
diligently  seek  him,  repent — tu-rn  away  from 
all  sin — receive  pardon  of  sin  'and  a  knowledge 
of  it  by  means  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  what  need 
have  I  for  organic  Mormonism,  or  any  other  or- 
ganic ism  ?  And  surely  this  is  my  own  personal 
experience.  I  was  made  acquainted  with  my 
sinful  condition  ;  I  gave  up  my  sins  ;  I  appealed 
to  God  for  pardon  and  grace ;  he  granted  me 
both  ;  gave  me  a  personal  knowledge,  such  as  I 
never  can  question — a  full  assurance — and  yet 
this  was  striclly  personal.  It  was  strictly  a 
matter  between  my  God  and  myself.  No  hu- 


The  Christian  Religion* Defined.        357 

man  being*  knew  of  my  sorrow  in  my  conviction 
or  the  joy  of  my  acceptance.  No  org-anic  relig-- 
ious  system,  either  Roman  Catholic  or  Protest- 
ant, knew  the  least  thing"  about  my  soul's 
struggle  in  my  conviction,  or  its  unspeakable 
joy  and  peace  in  my  adoption  and  reconciliation. 
My  conversion  was  not  the  result  of  an  organic, 
confederate  human  force  that  produced  convic- 
tion. It  was  the  Spirit  of  the  living-  God  op- 
erating* on  my  very  inmost  soul.  My  happy 
transition  from  heart  sorrow  of  the  most  dis- 
tressing" nature  to  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
g-lory  was  not  wroug-ht  or  even  assisted  by  any 
religious  society,  org-anic  or  otherwise.  No,  it 
is  "  by  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am." 
The  system  of  God's  dealing  with  man  is  per- 
sonal. God  did  not  dwell  in  the  Mormon  tem- 
ple at  Kirtland,  Ohio,  in  the  United  States  cf 
America,  nor  in  their  temple  at  Nauvoo  ;  neither 
does  he  dwell  in  the  temple  at  Salt  Lake ;  nor 
in  the  temple  at  Independence,  Jackson  County, 
Mo.,  nor  in  any  temple  made  with  hands.  Acts 
vii :  48;  xvii :  24.  "Know  ye  not  that  ye  are 
the  temple  of  God,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
dwelleth  in  you  ?  The  temple  of  God  is  holy, 


358      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

which  temple  ye  are."  1  Cor.  iii :  16,  17. 
"What!  Know  ye  not  that  your  body  is  the 
temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  in  you, 
which  ye  have  of  God?  "  1  Cor.  vi :  19.  God 
does  not,  in  the  -dispensation  of  Christ,  dwell 
in  temples  rrfade  with  hands,  as  in  the  days  of 
Solomon,  under  the  old  dispensation  or  cove- 
nant. God's  dwelling-  place  now  on  earth  is  in 
the  heart  of  man  personally.  The  heart,  or  af- 
fections, of  each  follower  of  Jesus  Christ  is 
where  God  dwells.  He  does  not  dwell  in  any 
of  those  large,  costly  structures  either  at  Rome, 
London,  New  York,  or  Salt  Lake,  called  tem- 
ples. 

So  much  for  the  four  temples  the  Mormons 
have  erected  in  Kirtland,  Nauvoo,  in  Salt  Lake, 
and  the  temple  in  Independence,  built  by  the 
reorganized  church  of  Mormons.  Two  of  these, 
tJie  former,  have  been  destroyed,  or  have  gone 
into  disuse,  as  far  as  Mormon  use  or  worship  is 
concerned,  Smith  and  his  followers  err  in  this 
part  of  their  religion,  in  common  with  the  hu- 
man systems  which  had  preceded  him,  in  build- 
ing costly  temples  to  God,  after  the  manner  of 
the  Jews  of  the  old  dispensation  and  not  after 


The  Christian  Religion  Defined.        359 

the  new  covenant  of  Christ  Jesus — the  former 
being1  ceremonial  and  formal ;  the  latter  being* 
personal  and  of  the  heart ;  the  former  being* 
the  letter,  which  killeth,  but  the  latter  the 
spirit  which  giveth  life.  2  Cor.  iii :  6. 

Having*  g-iven  the  reader  sufficient  proof  that 
the  Christian  religion  is  strictly  personal,  it  is 
embraced  in  the  word  love.  Love  is  the  fulfill- 
ing* of  the  law.  Rom.  xiii :  8-10.  This  love  is 
not  confederate  or  organic — religious  sect  love- 
but  personal  love  to  God  and  man  embraces  the 
whole  law  and  the  prophets.  Mat.  xxii :  36-40. 
The  law  is  fulfilled  in  one  word,  even  this, 
"Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 
Gal.  v :  14. 

A  person  may  have  and  be  all  I  have  set  forth 
in  Christ  Jesus,  and  as  such  he  is  necessarily 
in  the  strictest  sense  a  member  of  Christ' }s 
church;  and  yet  he  is  not  necessarily  a  member 
of  any  sect  church.  A  person  obeying*  the  gos- 
pel  is  necessarily  a  member  of  the  church  of 
God ;  'but  obedience  to  the  g*ospel  does  not  nec- 
essarily make  one  a  member  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  or  any  of  the  multiplied  Protestant 
churches,  proving  conclusively  that  no  one,  or 


360      Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

all  combined,  constitute  the  church  of  Christ. 
Yes,  a  person  must  do  more,  or  something'  dif- 
ferent from  simply  obeying*  the  g*ospel  to  ob- 
tain membership  in  them.  They  be  plants  not 
of  the  Father's  planting-,  and  shall  be  rooted 
up.  Such  is  Mormonism.  Paith  in  Jesus,  re- 
pentance toward  God,  and  baptism  do  not 
constitute  a  person  a  member  of  the  Mormon 
church,  only  as  a  person  is  baptized  by  a  Mor- 
mon administrator.  Such  is  the  self-assumed 
and  self-appointed  claim  of  Joseph  Smith,  Jr. 

That  the  Bible  is  divine  and  supernatural  or 
superhuman,  we  g-ive  the  following.  This 
done,  I  shall  compare  the  claims  and  preten- 
sions of  Joseph  Smith  and  his  followers  with 
those  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and 
prove  that  Smith's  system  is  a  false  delusion  of 
Satan,  or  the  product  of  a  wicked,  selfish  reli- 
g4ous  pretender. 

That  Jesus  Christ  of  the  New  Testament 
was  the  antitype  of  the  Old  Testament  typical 
system,  we  expect  to  show,  and  such  is  the  con- 
nection and  relation  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
taments, that  it  necessarily  proves  divine  or 
superhuman  arrangement.  That  the  time,  na- 


The  Christian  Religion  Defined.        361 

ture,  and  circumstances  of  the  instituting  of 
the  typical  system  of  the  Old  Testament,  as  it 
related  to  Jesus  Christ  in  the  New,  were  so 
different  and  remote  that  it  necessarily  proves 
that  both  were  divinely  arranged,  and  will 
show  to  the  infidel  or  sceptic  that  divinity,  or 
at  least  something  of  the  divine,  is  found  in  the 
Bible. 

The  Bible,  Old  and  New  Testaments,  is  an 
Hebrew  or  Jewish  book.  Hence,  I  here  call  on 
the  Jews  of  our  day,  as  a  people,  to  testify  in 
behalf  of  their  history  ;  and  I  ask  them,  Whence 
came  the  peculiar  ordinance  of  circumcision 
as  a  religious  ordinance  among  them  as  a  peo- 
ple? And  will  they  not  refer  me  to  Abraham 
their  ancient  forefather,  from  whom  they  re- 
ceived the  ordinance  the  law  of  circumcision? 
Do  not  the  Jews  prove  this  by  their  own  his- 
tory? And  -can  it  be  gainsaid  this  is  a  part 
of  established  Jewish  history?  This  being 
true,  other  parts  of  their  history  may  be  equal- 
ly true. 

I  call  on  the  Jews  to  state  to  us  the  origin  of 
their  peculiar  passover,  or  feast  of  unleavened 
bread,  which  they  as  a  people  are  observing 


362      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

among1  us,  in  its  time  and  season,  and  will  they 
not  direct  us  to  the  12th  chapter  of  Exodus, 
where  their  forefathers  were  in  Egypt  as  slaves 
to  the  Egyptians,  as  a  people  and  a  nation  ? 
Will  they  not  tell  us,  and  does  not  their  history 
show  it,  that  the  day  before  they  left  Egypt, 
the  14th  day  of  the  month  Abib,  that  each  fam- 
ily, or  families,  were  to  take  a  lamb  or  a  kid,  a 
male  of  the  first  year,  having"  no  blemish,  and 
that  in  the  evening*  they  should  kill  it,  and  take 
the  blood  and  strike  it  on  two  door-posts  and 
the  upper  door-post  of  the  houses  in  which  they 
should  eat  it ;  and  they  should  eat  it  with  un- 
leaven  bread  and  bitter  herbs.  It  is  the  Lord's 
passover.  The  Lord  purposed  that  night  to 
pass  throug-h  the  land  of  Egypt  and  destroy 
all  their  first  born,  both  man  and  beast,  and 
the  blood  should  be  a  sig*n  upon  the  houses 
where  they  were,  that  when  he  saw  the  blood 
he  would  pass  over  them,  and  the  plag^ue  should 
not  be  upon  them  to  destroy  them  when  he 
smote  the  land  of  Egypt. 

This  feast  was  observed  by  this  people  for 
some  fifteen  hundred  years  (captivities  except- 
ed),  as  a  confederate  or  national  people.  On 


The  Christian  Religion  Defined.        363 

that  particular  month,  the  fourteenth  day  of 
that  month,  the  lamb  or  kid  was  taken,  a  male, 
a  first  born,  without  blemish,  not  a  bone  to  be 
broken,  and  on  the  16th  day  of  the  month  the 
high  priest  was  to  wave  a  sheaf  as  a  first 
fruits  of  the  harvest,  or  from  the  earth,  and 
wave  it  before  the  Lord. 

The  Israelites  had  maintained  their  confed- 
erate or  national  state  for  about  one  thousand 
years,  though  in  this  time  they  had  become  two 
nations  of  people  under  the  names  of  Judah  and 
Israel.  About  four  hundred  years  they  had 
been  scattered  among"  other  nations,  and  their 
prophets  had  ceased  among-  them .  This  brought 
them  to  the  time  of  Christ.  But  for  fifteen 
hundred  years,  as  a  people  they  had  been  ob- 
serving" all  their  peculiar  ordinances,  the  pass- 
over  feast,  the  pentecost  feast,  the  feast  of  tab- 
ernacles, the  feast  of  atonement,  and  their 
weekly  sabbath.  Yes,  on  the  fourteenth  day 
of  the  month  Abib,  they  had  taken  the  lamb,  a 
male,  a  first  born,  without  blemish ;  they  had 
slain  it  in  the  evening  of  the  fourteenth  ;  not  a 
bone  had  been  broken.  The  fifteenth  day  had 
been  observed  as  a  passover  sabbath,  or  rest. 


364      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

The  sixteenth  day  of  the  month  the  high  priest 
had  taken  the  first  fruits  of  the  harvest — a 
sheaf — and  waved  it,  for  fifteen  hundred  years, 
annually  before  the  L/ord,  as  the  first  fruits 
from  the  earth.  And  seven  full  weeks  and  one 
day  added,  which  made  fifty  days  from  the  first 
paschal  sabbath,  brought  the  feast  of  pente- 
cost,  or  feast  of  fifties.  This  feast  was  to  rep- 
resent the  giving  of  the  law  on  Mount  Sinai, 
and  their  full  harvest  in. 

Now  the  reader  may  ask,  Why  these  pecu- 
liar feasts  in  these  peculiar  parts  ?  etc.  The 
answer  is,  these  are  types  to  be  fulfilled  by  Je- 
sus Christ  and  his  church,  and  which  show 
conclusively  the  divine  arrangement  that  exists 
between  the  Old  and  New ,  Testaments,  and 
that  the  time  of  instituting  the  type  and  the 
antitype  was  fifteen  hundred  years  apart,  and 
the  connection  and  relation  of  the  type  and  its 
antitype  were  such  that  it  proves  to  a  demon- 
stration the  superhuman  or  divine  arrangement. 
The  Jews  had  done  to  Christ  what  God  had 
determined  they  should  do,  though  the  Jews 
did  it  ignorantly,  not  knowing  they  at  the  time 
were  fulfilling  God's  ordained  purposes  accord- 


The  Christian  Religion  Defined.        365 

ing-  to  the  types  and  prophets  of  the  old  cov- 
enant. "For  of  a  truth  against  thy  holy  child 
Jesus,  whom  thou  hast  anointed,  both  Herod 
and  Pontius  Pilate,  with  the  Gentiles  and  the 
people  of  Israel,  were  gathered  together  for  to 
do  whatsoever  thy  hand  and  thy  counsel  deter- 
mined before  to  be  done."  Acts  iv:  27,  28. 
"And  now,  brethren,  I  know  that  through  ig- 
nOrance  ye  did  it,  as  did  also  your  rulers.  But 
these  things,  which  God  before  had  showed  by 
the  mouth  of  all  his  prophets,  that  Christ 
should  suffer,  he  hath  so  fulfilled."  Acts  iii : 
17,  18.  "Him  [Christ]  being  delivered  by  the 
determinate  counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God, 
ye  have  taken,  and  by  wicked  hands  have  cru- 
cified and  slain:  whom  God  has  raised  up." 
Acts  ii:  23,  24.  "Therefore  let  all  the  house 
of  Israel  know,  assuredly,  that  God  hath  made 
that  same  Jesus  whom  ye  have  crucified,  both 
Lord  and  Christ."  Acts  ii :  36.  These  pas- 
sages of  scripture  show  that  God  had  a  pre- 
arrangement  and  foreknowledge  of  what  the 
Tews  and  Gentiles  would  do  to  Christ ;  and  the 
+ypes  of  the  old  covenant  and  the  conduct  of 
the  Jews  in  relation  to  him,  as  the  facts  will 


366      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

show,  prove  to  a  demonstration  the  supernatu- 
ral and  divine  hand  of  God  in  the  types  and 
antitypes  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 

We  now  call  the  special  attention  of  the 
reader  to  the  connection  of  or  between  the  two. 
Jesus  Christ  was  a  male,  of  the  first  born  (had 
the  credit  of  being"),  without  blemish.  He  was 
called  by  John  the  Baptist  ' '  the  Lamb  of  God. ' ' 
He  went  up  to  Jerusalem,  knowing  and  so  stat- 
ing* the  fact,  that  he  would  be  taken  at  that 
time  and  at  that  particular  passover  feast  by 
the  wicked  Jews,  and  crucified  and  slain  ;  and 
as  proof  that  Jesus  was  the  antitype  of  the 
paschal  lamb,  and  that  the  time  had  come  for 
the  Jews  as  a  people — a  wicked  people — to  com- 
bine with  Pilate,  the  Gentile,  to  do  whatsoever 
aforetime  God  had  determined  should  be  done. 
The  wicked  Judas  had  done  his  part,  prompted 
by  Satan,  as  the  prophets  had  foretold  of  the 
thirty  pieces  of  silver  and  the  kiss.  The  wicked 
Jews  at  this  particular  feast,  this  particular 
time  of  the  type,  in  the  month  of  Abib,  on  the 
fourteenth  day  of  that  month  Abib,  took 
the  Lamb  of  God,  and  in  the  evening*  of  that 
fourteenth  day  of  the  month  of  Abib,  did  slay 


The  Christian  Religion  Defined.        367 

at  the  ninth  hour  (3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon) 
the  Lamb  of  God,  Jesus  Christ — the  time 
of  the  slaying-  of  the  paschal  lamb,  which 
the  Jews  had  observed  for  some  fifteen  hun- 
dred years,  from  Moses  to  that  time.  And 
when  the  Jews  would  hasten  the  death  or  pre- 
vent the  escape  of  the  three  crucified  ones  by 
breaking-  their  leg's,  coming-  to  Jesus,  finding- 
he  was  already  dead,  they  broke  not  a  bone,  as 
in  the  paschal  lamb  not  a  bone  was  to  be  broken. 
At  this  particular  paschal  feast,  the  paschal 
sabbath  and  the  weekly  sabbath  both  met  on 
the  same  day,  as  in  leap  year.  The  sacred 
physical  rest  of  the  weekly  sabbath  and  the 
sacred  physical  rest  of  the  passover  sabbath, 
both  coming-  on  the  same  day,  was  the  very  day 
on  which  the  human,  or  physical  Christ  lay  at 
rest  in  Joseph  of  Arimathea's  sepulchre,  mak- 
ing- his  bed  with  the  rich,  and  resting-  in  the 
grave  on  these  two  of  all  most  sacred  days, 
while  the  women,  his  female  followers,  kept 
the  sabbath  according-  to  the  law  of  Moses. 
Hence,  as  Paul  would  have  it,  "Let  no  man 
therefore  judg-e  you  ...  in  respect  of  a 
holy  day,  or  of  the  new  moon,  or  of  the  sab- 


368      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

bath,  which  are  a  shadow  of  thing's  to  come ; 
but  the  body  is  of  Christ."  Col.  ii :  16,  17. 
This  holy  day  of  the  paschal  sabbath  and  the 
holy  day  of  the  weekly  sabbath  are  but  shad- 
ows, of  which  the  body  was  of  Christ  lying1  in 
the  grave,  or  resting"  from  the  .human  or  phys- 
ical labor,  or  his  finished  physical  work — show- 
ing* that  these  two  sabbaths — weekly  and  pas- 
c\\a\^poi)itcd  for  fifteen  hundred  years,  as  ob- 
served by  the  Israelites,  to  that  sabbath  of 
rest  that  Christ's  body  should  lie  in  the  grave. 
And  while  the  human  part  of  Christ  was  lying- 
in  the  grave,  the  women — his  followers — "ob- 
served the  sabbath  according-  to  the  law  of 
Moses."  The  next  day  after  the  sabbath,  the 
sixteenth  day  of  the  month  Abib,  was  the  day 
and  time  that  the  hig-h  priest  for  fifteen  hun- 
dred years  had  taken  the  sheaf,  the  first  fruits 
of  the  earth,  and  waved  it  before  the  Lord ; 
and  strang-e  to  say,  it  was  the  resurrection  day 
of  Jesus,  who  was  the  first  fruits  from  the 
grave,  or  earth — as  Paul  has  it,  "the  first 
fruits  of  those  that  slept" — showing-  conclu- 
sively that  the  wave-sheaf  in  the  paschal  feast 
was  the  type  of  the  resurrection  from  the  dead, 


The  Christian  Religion  Defined.        369 

which  had  been  set  forth  all  through  their  na- 
tional history,  and  was  literally  fulfilled  by  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus. 

Passing-  by  the  paschal  feast,  as  it  applied  to 
Jesus  Christ  as  its  antitype,  after  Jesus  rose 
from  the  dead  he  was  forty  days  with  his  'dis- 
ciples, instructing-  them  in  the  thing's  pertain- 
ing- to  his  king-dom.  As  Moses  was  forty  days 
in  the  mount  with  God  receiving-  the  law,  so  the 
disciples,  were  forty  days  with  the  resurrected 
Jesus,  receiving-  the  necessary  directions  and 
instructions  to  dispense  the  new  law,  and  were 
instructed  or  enjoined  to  wait  at  Jerusalem  un- 
til the  day  of  pentecost  was  fully  come. 

The  feast  of  pentecost  had  for  fifteen  hun- 
dred years  been  observed  as  commemorative  of 
the  g-iving-  of  the  old  law  on  Mount  Sinai  and 
the  great  ing-athering-  of  the  harvest.  The  dis- 
ciples had  observed  the  instructions  of  the  Sa- 
vior at  his  ascension,  namely,  Wait  at  Jerusa- 
lem until  you  are  endowed  with  power  from  on 
hig-h.  Here,  on  this  particular  feast  of  pen- 
tecost, as  on  the  particular  feast  of  the  pass- 
over,  we  have  events  take  place  such  as  had 

never  taken  place  before  on   these  feasts,   and 

24 


370      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

such  as  have  never  taken  place  since.  The 
seven  weeks  and  one  day  added,  from  the  sab- 
bath of  the  passover  -feast,  brought  the  first 
day  of  pentecost,  which,  at  this  feast,  made  it 
to  occur  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  or  Sun- 
day. And  now,  at  this  feast  of  pentecost 
strange  occurrences  transpire,  such  as  had 
never  taken  place  for  the  fifteen  hundred  years 
since  the  feast  had  been  instituted,  and  have 
never  taken  place  since. 

This  pentecost  feast  throughout  national  Is- 
rael had  represented  the  giving*  of  the  Mount 
Sinai  law  and  the  ingathering  of  the  harvest ; 
and  now  its  antitype  is  the  giving  of  the  new 
law  and  the  harvest  of  three  thousand  of  the 
Jews  out  of  the  old  covenant  into  the  new. 
Yes,  dear  reader,  it  was  reserved  lor  this  pen- 
tecost feast,  in  the  divine  arrangement,  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  should  be  poured  out  in  its  full- 
ness "upon  all  flesh,"  and  that  the  Spirit,  on 
this  occasion,  should  manifest  the  miraculous 
power  of  God  in  such  a  way  that  it  should 
demonstrate  that  Jesus  Christ,  whom  the  Jews 
as  a  nation  and  people  had  crucified,  was  their 
Messiah — the  Christ — the  anointed  Son  of  God. 


The  Christian  Religion  Defined.        371 

Three  thousand  Jews,  on  this  feast  of  pente- 
cost,  were  fully  convinced,  by  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  the  declaration  of  facts  stated 
by  Peter  and  the  rest  of  the  apostles,  that  Je- 
sus was  the  Christ — the  anointed  Son  of  God  ; 
they  gladly  received  the  word,  and  were  bap- 
tized. Here  the  pentecost  feast,  as' a  type  in 
the  old  covenant,  met  its  antitype  in  the  new, 
showing-  to  a  demonstration  that  these  two 
feasts  referred  to — the  passover  feast  and  the 
pentecost  feast — were  types  in  the  divine  ar- 
rangement, and  instituted  at  least  fifteen  hun- 
dred years  prior  to  finding  their  fulfillment  in 
the  new,  showing  conclusively  that  "Christ 
came  to  fulfill  the  law,"  and  that  he  did  so  ful- 
fill it.  As  Paul  would  have  it,  "He  came  to 
take  away  the  first  covenant  that  he  might 
establish  the  second,"  and  that  "Christ  is  the 
end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one 
that  believeth." 

When  the  day  of  pentecost  was  fully  come 
the  apostles  were  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  each  one  of  fourteen  national  languages 
heard  the  inspired  apostles  (though  unlearned) 
speak  the  wonderful  things  of  God  in  their 


372      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

own  tongue  wherein  they  were  born.  The 
people  were  amazed  ;  some  mocked  ;  but  Peter 
stood  up  with  the  eleven,  and  said,  We  are  not 
drunken  ;  but  a  prophecy  of  Joel  has  been  ful- 
filled, and  God,  according-  to  promise,  through 
Jesus  Christ,  has  poured  out  his  Spirit.  "Ye 
men  of  Israel,  hear  these  words  :  Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth, a  man  approved  of  God  among  you  by 
miracles  and  wonders  and  signs,  which  God  did 
by  him  in  the  midst  of  you,  as  ye  yourselves 
also  know.  Him,  being  delivered  by  the  dctcr- 
nihiatc  counsel  a)id  foreknowledge  of  God,  ye 
have  taken,  and  by  wicked  hands  have  crucified 
and  slain,  whom  God  hath  raised  up.  This 
Jesns  lialli  God  raised  up,  whereof  we  all  are 
witnesses.  Therefore,  being  at  the  right  hand 
of  God  exalted,  and  having  received  of  the 
Father  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  hath 
shed  forth  this  which  ye  now  see  and  hear. 
Therefore  let  all  the  house  of  Israel  know  as- 
suredly that  God  hath  made  that  Jesus  whom 
ye  have  crucified,  both  Lord  and  Christ." 
Hearing  this,  they  believed,  and  asked  direc- 
tions what  they  must  do.  Peter  said,  "Repent 
and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you  in  the  name 


The  Christian  Religion  Defined.        373 

of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  remission  of  sins, 
and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  for  the  promise  is  unto  you,  and  to 
your  children,  and  to  all  that  are  afar  off, 
even  as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call. 
Then  they  that  gladly  received  the  word  were 
baptized ;  and  the  same  day  there  were  added 
about  three  thousand  souls. ' '  We  ask  the  reader 
to  study  the  second  chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  for  what  I  have  set  forth  but  briefly. 

And  now  I  ask  the  doubter,  the  sceptic,  the 
infidel,  how  much  of  what  I  have  quoted  of  the 
Bible — Old  and  New  Testaments — as  historical 
facts  can  be  denied — refuted — with  all  their  re- 
lation to  each  other  and  apparent  coincidence  ? 
and  if  these  facts  stand  unimpaired  as  histor- 
ical matters  of  fact  and  their  correlation  to  each 
other,  then  the  fact  is  established  to  a  demon- 
stration that  there  is  such  a  relation  between 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  which  proves  a 
superhuman  or  divine  arrangement  in  both. 

The  divine  arrangement  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  being  established,  then  we  have  the 
true  standard  of  a  true  or  divine  religion,  by 
which  we  may  test  any  and  all  false  religions. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
JOSEPH  SMITH'S  EARLY  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER. 


1NOW  ask  the  reader  to  follow  me  while  I 
endeavor   to   test    Joseph    Smith   and    the 
Mormon   institution   by  the    religion   of   Jesus 
Christ  and  his  apostles  as  found  in  the  New 
Testament. 

The  claims  of  Joseph  Smith,  the  founder  of 
the  Mormon  religion,  are  very  high  in  the  di- 
vine and  miraculous  sense.  He  claims  to  have 
been  personally  visited  by,  and  had  direct  com- 
munication with,  the  very  and  eternal  God  and 
with  Jesus  Christ,  with  John  the  Baptist,  with 
Peter,  James  and  John,  with  angels  of  various 
orders  ;  that  he  was  in  constant  communion 
with  God,  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  that  God  talked  and  communed  and  com- 
municated to  him  the  necessary  information  for 
the  guidance  of  his  church  —  Mormonism  ;  that 
God  did  reveal  to  him  from  day  to  day  what 
the  people  collectively  and  individually  should 
do,  and  what  principles  of  truth  and  law  they 
(374) 


Joseph  Smith' }s  Early  Life.  375 

should  be  guided  by ;  that  God  did  make 
known  to  him  the  course  he  pursued  and  the 
doctrines  he  taught,  and  that  Mormonism,  as  he 
(Smith)  left  it  at  his  death,  was  an  institution 
of  religion  that  God  had  made  known  or  revealed 
to  him.  The  claims  of  Brigham  Young,  Smith's 
successor,  run  directly  on  that  same  line  of 
pretense  for  the  perpetuation  of  the  church. 

Now  with  all  these  extraordinary,  high,  di- 
vine, miraculous  claims,  it  is  but  reasonable 
and  God-like  that  such  claims  should  be  accom- 
panied by  adequate  or  super-human  proof  to 
all  those  we  might  expect  to  believe  or  accept 
such.  This  proof  they  have  utterly  failed  to 
give,  as  my  own  experience  (to  my  heart's  sat- 
isfaction at  least)  has  fully  demonstrated. 

During  my  five  years'  experience  and  obser- 
vation while  among  them  as  a  people,  and  my 
mingling  with  them,  more  or  less,  for  thirty- 
six  years  in  Kansas,  I  testify  before  God  in 
sincerity  that  I  have  not  witnessed  the  least 
manifestation  of  the  divine  power  and  favor  of 
God  among  them  as  a  people  or  religious  insti- 
tution. And  though  I  have  been  inclined  to 
labor  long  and  hard  to  show  as  a  people  and 


376      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

institution  that  they  represent  and  constitute  a 
false  system  of  religion,  the  most  flagrant, 
brazen,  unscrupulous  known  to  our  age  or  any 
age  since  the  days  of  Jesus,  yet  I  can  but 
think  that  false  religion  in  contradistinction 
with  the  true  is  a  part  of  God's  arrangement 
in  this  age,  or  order  of  things,  as  shown  in  the 
Bible  from  the  Garden  of  Eden  down  to  and 
beyond  the  first  resurrection. 

Among  the  very  earliest  teachings  and  ad- 
monitions of  Jesus  to  his  disciples  were  :  ' '  Be- 
ware of  false  prophets  which  come  to  you  in 
sheep's  clothing,  but  inwardly  they  are  raven- 
ing wolves.  Ye  shall  know  them  by  their 
fruits.  Do  men  gather  grapes  of  thorns  or  fig's 
of  thistles  ?  Even  so  every  good  tree  bringeth 
forth  good  fruit ;  but  a  corrupt  tree  bringeth 
forth  evil  fruit.  A  good  tree  cannot  bring  forth 
evil  fruit ;  neither  can  a  corrupt  tree  bring  forth 
good  fruit.  Every  tree  that  bringeth  not  forth 
good  fruit  is  hewn  down  and  cast  into  the  fire. 
Wherefore  by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them. 
Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me,  I/ord,  Lord, 
shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  but  he 
that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father  which  is  in 


Joseph  Smith's  Early  Life.  37/ 

heaven.  Many  will  say  unto  me  in  that  day, 
Lord,  Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy 
name?  and  in  thy  name  have  cast  out  devils? 
and  in  thy  name  done  many  wonderful  works? 
Then  will  I  profess  unto  them,  I  never  knew 
you;  depart  from  me,  ye  that  work  iniquity." 
-Matt,  vii:  15-23. 

Jesus  knew  there  had  been  false  religions 
and  false  prophets  all  the  way  down  from  Eden 
to  his  own  day,  and  that  such  would  be  con- 
tinued down  to  the  end  of  man's  probation, 
until  he  should  "subdue  all  thing's  unto  him- 
self." Yet  while  true  and  false  religions  are 
in  existence,  and  true  and  false  worshipers  or 
religious  pretenders  mingle  and  mix  together  in 
this  world  like  the  wheat  and  the  tares,  it  is 
necessary  for  God's  true  people — the  wheat — 
to  know  of  a  surety  that  they  are  of  God,  and 
to  know  that  they  are  not  deceived.  "Por  the 
mystery  of  iniquity  doth  already  work  ;  only  he 
who  now  letteth  [alloweth]  will  let  until  he  be 
taken  out  of  the  way.  And  then  shall  that 
Wicked  be  revealed,  whom  the  Lord  shall  con- 
sume with  the  spirit  of  his  mouth,  and  shall 
destroy  with  the  brightness  of  his  coming: 


378      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

Even  him  whose  coming'  is  after  the  working  of 
Satan  with  all  power  and  signs  and  lying- 
wonders,  and  with  all  deceivableness  of  un- 
rig-hteousness  in  them  that  perish  ;  because  they 
receive  not  the  love  of  the  truth  that  they 
migfht  be  saved.  And  for  this  cause  God  shall 
send  them  strong*  delusion  that  they  should  be- 
lieve a  lie  ;  that  they  all  mig'ht  be  damned  who 
believed  not  the  truth  but  had  pleasure  in  un- 
righteousness. '  '—2  Thess.  ii :  7-12.  * '  For  false 
Christs  and  false  prophets  shall  rise  and  shall 
shew  sig^ns  and  wonders  to  seduce,  if  it  were 
possible,  even  the  elect."  —Mark  xiii:  22.  Then 
Jesus  admonishes  his  disciples,  sayingY  "Take 
ye  heed  ;  behold  I  have  foretold  you  all  thing's." 
—Mark  xiii:  23.  The  apostle  Paul  warns  the 
church  agfainst  certain  false  religionists:  "  Por 
such  are  false  apostles,  deceitful  workers, 
transforming'  themselves  into  the  apostles  of 
Christ.  And  no  marvel ;  for  Satan  himself  is 
transformed  into  an  angfel  of  ligfht.  Therefore 
it  is  no  great  thing-  if  his  ministers  also  be 
transformed  as  the  ministers  of  righteousness  ; 
whose  end  shall  be  according*  to  their  works." 
-2  Cor.  xi:  13-15. 


Joseph  Smith's  Early  Life.  379 

These  and  kindred  passages  of  scripture 
show  that  God  for  some  allwise  purpose  has 
allowed  the  devil  to  have  a  people  on  the  earth 
(the  tares),  and  that  he  has  also  allowed  them 
to  organize  these  counterfeit  systems  of  religion 
to  try  and,  if  possible,  to  deceive  the  elect. 

Then  according  to  the  foregoing  it  becomes  a 
very  important  duty  of  the  elect  to  learn  to 
distinguish  between  the  religion  of  God  and 
that  of  the  devil.  God's  system  of  religion 
consists  of  plants  (or  principles)  of  his  own 
planting,  and  whatsoever  is  not  of  God's  plant- 
ing is  to  be  rooted  up. 

The  devil's  system  of  religion,  or  false  re- 
ligion, consists  of  principles  and  dispositions  of 
his  planting,  which  are  "earthly,  sensual,  dev- 
ilish." God's  system  is  spiritual,  unselfish, 
pure  love  of  God  and  man.  The  devil's  is  car- 
nal, earthly  and  selfish ;  but  the  wolf  always 
comes  in  disguise,  covered  with  wool,  false 
pretensions,  hypocrisy  and  fallac}^. 

Such  by  experience  and  observation  has  Mor- 
monism  proved  to  thousands  of  poor,  unfortun- 
ate, deceived,  deluded  victims.  The  masses  of 
the  people  join  the  Mormons  in  good  faith,  are 


380      Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

sincere  and  honest,  but  lack  the  light  of  God's 
truth  to  resist  its  deception.  Such  was  John 
D.  Lee  and  thousands  of  others  who  failed  to 
see  their  error  until  it  was  too  late.  It  has 
cost  thousands  upon  thousands  of  people  all 
their  best  and  happiest  interests  of  life  and 
even  life  itself  ;  and  except  to  a  few  of  its  promi- 
nent leaders  it  has  given  nothing*  desirable  in 
return,  either  temporal  or  spiritual. 

But  worst  of  all  Mormonism,  as  an  institu- 
tion established  by  Joseph  Smith,  is  yet  a 
growing*  system.  The  Utah  branch  and  the 
re-org*anized  branch,  under  young*  Joseph  Smith, 
are  both  active  in  their  missionary  operations 
in  America  and  many  others  countries. 

Were  Mormonism  as  such  a  declining*  system, 
with  the  probability  of  a  speedy  dissolution,  I 
should  feel  it  useless  to  offer  the  present  work. 
But  while  I  realize  that,  as  a  people,  they  are 
actively  eng*ag*ed  proselyting*  and  converting* 
many  more  to  their  faith,  with  a  probability  of 
a  continued  increase  for  the  future,  I  feel  duty 
bound  to  contribute  my  mite,  if  possible,  to 
overthrow  or  weaken  its  tendencies,  knowing*  as 
I  do  its  far-reaching*,  evil  intentions.  In  the 


Joseph  Smith* s  Early  Life.  381 

lang-uag-e  of  Daniel  P.  Kidder  (author  of  "Mor- 
monism and  the  Mormons,")  is  my  apology  for 
the  present  undertaking- :  "It  will  be  under- 
stood that  our  only  opposition  to  Mormonism  is 
on  the  ground  of  its  being-  a  religious  impos- 
ture." 

"There  are  no  limits  to  imposture.  It  is 
capable  of  wearing-  with  equal  grace  the  fan- 
tastic g-arb  of  jug-g-lery,  or  the  insig-nia  of  a 
pious  priest."  It  lurks  in  the  cabinets  of 
king's  as  well  as  in  tents  of  wandering-  gypsies. 
But  of  all  the  shapes  it  assumes,  sanctity  is  its 
favorite,  and  of  all  the  g-arbs  in  which  it  has 
ever  been  arrayed,  none  other  so  completely 
hides  its  deformity  as  that  of  relig-ion." 

Mormonism  has  grown  up  by  degrees,  shap- 
ing- itself  to  suit  the  times,  and  is  by  no  means 
yet  fully  developed  according-  to  Smith's  pre- 
tensions and  claims. 

D.  P.  Kidder  has  said,  "Gladly  would  we 
have  been  excused  from  the  task  of  examining- 
the  claims  of  Mormonism  and  the  Mormons  did 
not  a  reg-ard  for  truth,  together  with  the  dic- 
tates of  conscience,  urg-e  us  to  undertake  it." 
He  also  adds,  "Justice  to  the  world  and  to 


382      Mormoiiism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

posterit}^  calls  upon  Americans  of  the  present 
generation  to  record  facts  connected  with  this 
subject  which  are  now  and  here  notorious,  but 
which  are  less  known  abroad,  and  eventually 
may  be  lost  in  oblivion  of  time."  He  still  fur- 
ther adds,  "We  shall 'be  obliged  to  unmask 
deception  and  to  place  before  the  world  the 
principal  agents  of  this  imposture  in  their  true, 
attested  character ;  yet  we  hope  to  do  it  in  fair- 
ness and  candor,  so  that  could  we  gain  the  at- 
.tention  of  any  individuals  exposed  or  already 
subject  to  the  mental  and  spiritual  contamina- 
tion of  which  there  have  been  such  unhappy 
examples,  we  trust  they  may  here  find  an  anti- 
dote." Says  the  same  author,  "Truth  and 
reason  are  the  only  weapons  we  can  use  with 
safety,  either  in  attack  or  defense.  Let  knowl- 
edge and  piety  be  diffused  ;  let  the  pure  princi- 
ples of  the  gospel  be  disseminated  and  practiced, 
and  there  will  be  nothing  to  fear.  But  in  the 
absence  of  these  there  will  be  no  barrier 
against  the  giant  strides  of  fanaticism,  and  no 
restraint  upon  the  extravagances  of  human 
passion  and  folly."  I  quote  from  the  same 
author,  ' '  Upon  the  Book  of  Mormon  rests  the 


Joseph  Smith's  Early  Life.  383 

whole  fabric  of  Mormonism ;  let  us  examine 
whether  it  be  not  a  sandy  foundation.  That 
was  the  starting"  point  of  the  whole  prophetic 
pretense  ;  let  us  see  whether  it  is  from  above  or 
beloiv.  That  its  fountain  which  has  sent  forth 
the  whole  flood  of  blessings  or  of  curses  at- 
tributable to  the  system  ;  let  us  prove  whether 
its  waters  are  sweet  or  bitter." 

It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  if  God  were 
about  to  use  some  one  of  the  human  family  for 
the  purpose  of  making'  known  and  bringing 
about  some  extraordinary  events  in  connection 
with  mankind  at  larg'e,  he  would  necessarily 
make  choice  of  a  person,  or  persons,  of  known 
noble,  moral  character  ;  but  the  following*  would 
show  that  such  was  truly  wanting-  in  Joseph 
Smith  and  his  family,  I  copy  the  following 
from  a  work  in  my  hands,  the  title  of  which  is, 
"Mormonism  and  the  Mormons." 

"MANCHESTER,  Ontario  County,  N.  Y. 

November  3,  1833. 

We,  the  undersig-ned,  being  personally  ac- 
quainted with  the  family  of  Joseph  Smith,  Jr., 
with  whom  the  Golden  Bible,  so-called;  origin- 
ated, state  that  they  were  not  only  a  lazy,  in- 


384      Mormoriism  Exposed  and  Refilled. 

dolent  set  of  men,  but  also  intemperate,  and 
their  word  was  not  to  be  depended  upon,  and 
that  we  are  truly  glad  to  dispense  with  their 
society. 

PARDON  BUTTS,         WARDEN  A.  REED, 
HIRAM  SMITH,  ALFRED  STAFFORD, 

JAMES  GEE,  ABEL  CHASE, 

A.  H.  WENTWORTH,  MOSES  C.  SMITH, 
JOSEPH  FISH,  HORACE  N.  BARNES, 

SILVESTER  WARDEN." 
"PALMYRA,  December  4,  1833. 
We,  the  undersigned,  have  been  acquainted 
with  the  Smith  family  for  a  number  of  years, 
while  they  resided  near  this  place,  and  we  have 
no  hesitation  in  saying*  that  we  consider  them 
destitute  of  that  moral  character  which  ought 
to  entitle  them  to  confidence  of  any  community. 
They  were  particularly  famous  for  visionary 
projects,  spent  much  of  their  time  in  digging 
for  money,  which  they  pretended  was  hid  in  the 
earth  ;  and,  to  this  day,  large  excavations  may 
be  seen  in  the  earth  not  far  from  their  resi- 
dence, where  they  used  to  spend  their  time  in 
digging  for  hidden  treasures.  Joseph  Smith, 
Sr.,  and  his  son  Joseph  were,  in  particular,  con- 


Joseph  Smith's  Early  Life.  385 

sidered  entirely  destitute  of   moral  character, 
and  addicted  to  vicious  habits. 

"Martin  Harris    was    a    man    who    had    ac- 
quired a  handsome  property,  and  in  matters  of 
business  his  word  was  considered  good  ;  but  on 
moral  and  religious  subjects  he  was  perfectly 
visionary — sometimes  advocating-  one  sentiment 
and    sometimes    another.     In   reference   to   all 
with  whom  we  were  acquainted  that  have  em- 
braced Mormonism  from  this  neighborhood,  we 
are  compelled  to  say  were  very  visionary  and 
many  of  them  destitute  of  moral  character  and 
without  influence  in  this  community ;  and  this 
may  account  for  why  they  were  permitted  to 
go  on  with  their  impositions  undisturbed.     It 
was  not  supposed  that  any  of  them  were  pos- 
sessed   of  sufficient    character    or    influence    to 
make  any  one  believe  their  book  or  their  senti- 
ments, and  we  know  not  of  a  single  individual 
in  this  vicinity  that  puts  the  least  confidence  in 
their  pretended  revelations. 
* '  GEO.  N.  WILLIAMS,    CLARK  ROBINSON, 
LEMUEL  DURFEE,        E.  S.  TOWNSEND, 
HENRY  P.  ALGER,       C.  E.  THAYER, 
G.  W.  ANDERSON,      H.  P.  THAYER, 
25 


386      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 


L.  WILLIAMS, 
LEVI  THAYER, 
P.  SEXTON, 
S.  P.  SEYMOUR, 
JOHN  HURLBUT, 
JAMES  JEENNER, 
JOSIAH  RICE, 


GEO.  W.  CROSBY, 

R.  S.  WILLIAMS, 

M.  BUTTERFIELD, 
D.  S.  JACKWAYS, 

H.  LlNNELL, 

S.  ACKLEY, 
JESSE  TOWNSEND, 


RICHARD  D.  CLARK,  THOS.  P.  BALDWIN, 

JOHN   SOTHINGTON,      DURFEY  CHASE, 

N.  H.  BECKWITH, 
GILES  S.  ELY, 
PELALIAH  WEST, 
LINUS  NORTH, 
WILLIAM  PARKE, 
AMOS  HOLISTER, 
DAVID  G.  ELY, 
G.  BECKWITH, 
HIRAM  PAYNE, 
L.  KURD, 
E.  D.  ROBINSON, 


ANDERSON, 
PHILO  DURFEE, 
R.  W.  SMITH, 
HENRY  JESSUP, 
THOMAS  ROGERS, 
JOSIAH  FRANCIS, 
G.  A.  HATHAWAY, 
H.  K.  JEROME, 
LEWIS  FOSTER, 
P.  GRANDIN, 
JOEL  THAYER, 

ASHEL  MlLLARD, 


A.  ENSWORTH, 
ISRAEL  F.  CHILSON." 

The  author  here  remarks,  "After  these  state- 
ments, certified  by  fifty-two  men  of  character 
and  standing,  who  may  be  considered  as  repre 


Joseph  Smith's  Early  Life.  387 

senting  the  entire  community  in  which  Mor- 
monism  took  its  origin,  we  may  safely  regard 
the  character  of  the  persons  who  got  it  up." 

Surely  the  Smiths,  as  a  family,  lacked  (ac- 
cording to  the  above  testimony  of  the  multitude 
of  their  nearest  neighbors)  the  quality  that  the 
great  God  of  the  universe  would  require  as  his 
elect  to  bring  forth  his  divine  exalted  purposes 
to  the  universe  of  mankind.  But  such  a  char- 
acter, as  the  above  witnesses  testify  to,  would 
be  well  fitted  to  develop  and  operate  a  system 
from  beneath  which  in  its  nature  is  earthy  and 
sensual. 

The  author  further  remarks,  "Martin  Har- 
ris, above  and  hereafter  referred  to,  was  second 
in  importance  to  Smith.  Indeed,  had  it  not 
been  for  his  money,  which  he  supposed  profita- 
bly invested,  there  is  no  probability  that  the 
Book  of  Mormon  would  have  been  published." 

It  will  now  be  curious  to  observe  several  par- 
ticulars which  are  vouched  for  by  the  regularly 
sworn  affidavits  of  different  individuals. 

When  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  first  pretended  to 
have  found  a  Golden  Bible,  it  was  merely  in  jest, 
not  expecting  that  any  one  would  believe  him. 


388      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

Peter  Ing-ersoll,  his  neighbor  and  confidential 
friend,  thus  testifies:  "One  day  Smith  came 
and.  greeted  me  with  a  joyful  countenance. 
Upon  asking-  him  the  cause  of  his  unusual  hap- 
piness, he  replied  in  the  following*  lang-uag-e : 
4  As  I  was  passing-,  yesterday,  across  the  woods 
after  a  heavy  shower  of  rain,  I  found  in  a  hol- 
low some  beautiful  white  sand  that  had  been 
washed  up  by  the  water.  I  took  off  my  frock 
and  tied  up  several  quarts  of  it  and  then  went 
home.  On  entering-  the  house  I  found  the  fam- 
ily at  the  table  eating-  dinner.  They  were  all 
anxious  to  know  the  contents  of  my  frock.  At 
that  moment  I  happened  to  think  of  what  I  had 
heard  about  a  history  found  in  Canada  called 

*  The  Golden  Bible ; '    so  I    very  gravely  told 
them  it  was  the  Golden  Bible.     To  my  surprise 
they  were  credulous  enoug-h  to  believe  what  I 
said.     According-ly,  I  told  them  I  had  received 
a  commandment  to  let  119  one  see  it ;  for,  said  I, 

*  No  man  can  see  it  with  the  naked  eye  and  live. ' 
However,  I  offered  to  take  put  the  Book  and 
show  it  to  them,  but  they  refused  to  see  it,  and 
left  the  room.     'Now,'  said  Joe,    'I  have  gx>t 
the  damned  fools  fixed,  and  will  carry  out  the 


Joseph  Smith's  Early  Life.  389 

fun.'  Notwithstanding',  he  told  me  he  had  no 
such  book,  and  believed  there  never  was  such  a 
book  ;  yet  he  told  me  he  actually  went  to  Wil- 
lard  Chase  to  get  him  to  make  a  chest  in  which 
he  mig'ht  deposit  his  Golden  Bible.  But  as 
Chase  would  not  do  it  he  made  a  box  himself 
of  boards  and  put  it  in  a  pillow-case,  and 
allowed  people  only  to  lift  it  and  feel  of  it 
through  the  case." 

As  is  usual  in  such  cases  of  fibbing*  his 
stories  were  contradictory.  Here  is  a  part  of 
Willard  Chase's  testimony : 

"In  the  fore  part  of  September,  (I  believe) 
1827,  the  prophet  requested  me  to  make  him  a 
chest,  informing"  me  that  he  desired  to  move 
back  to  Pennsylvania  and  expected  soon  to  get 
his  gold  book.  He  wanted  a  chest  to  lock  it  up, 
giving  me  to  understand,  at  the  same  time,  that 
if  I  would  make  the  chest  he  would  give  me  a 
share  in  the  book.  I  told  him  my  business  was 
such  I  could  not  make  it,  but  if  he  would  bring 
the  book  to  me  I  would  lock  it  up  for  him.  He 
said  that  would  not  do,  as  he  was  commanded 
to  keep  it  two  years  without  letting  it  come  to 
the  eye  of  any  one  but  himself.  This  com- 


390      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

mandment,  however,  he  did  not  keep,  for  in  less 
than  two  years  twelve  men  said  they  had  seen 
it.  I  told  him  to  get  it  and  convince,  me  of  its 
existence  and  I  would  make  him  the  chest  to 
lock  the  book  in  as  soon  as  he  took  it  out  of  the 
ground.  I  saw  him  a  few  days  after  when  he 
told  me  I  must  make  the  chest.  I  told  him 
plainly  that  I  could  not,  upon  which  he  told  me 
I  could  have  no  part  in  the  book. 

"A  few  weeks  after  this  conversation  he 
came  to  my  house  and  related  the  following 
story:  That  on  the  22nd  of  September  he 
arose  early  in  the  morning'  and  took  a  team  and 
wagon  of  some  one  that  had  stayed  over  night 
at  their  house  without  leave  or  license,  and  to- 
gether with  his  wife  repaired  to  the  hill  which 
contained  the  book.  He  left  his  wife  in  the 
wagon  by  the  road  and  went  alone  to  the  hill,  a 
distance  of  thirty  or  forty  rods  from  the  road. 
He  said  he  then  took  the  book  out  of  the  ground 
and  hid  it  in  a  tree-top  and  returned  home.  He 
then  went  to  the  town  of  Macedon  to  work  ; 
and  about  ten  days,  it  having  been  suggested 
that  some  one  had  got  his  book,  his  wife  went 
after  him.  He  hired  a  horse  and  went  home  in 


Joseph  Smith' } s  Early  Life.  391 

the  afternoon,  stayed  long-  enough  to  drink  a 
cup  of  tea  and  then  went  for  his  book,  found  it 
safe,  took  off  his  frock,  wrapped  it  round  it, 
put  it  under  his  arm  and  ran  all  the  way  home, 
a  distance  of  about  two  miles.  He  said  he 
should  think  it  would  weigh  sixty  pounds,  and 
was  sure  it  would  weigh  forty.  On  his  return 
home  he  said  he  was  attacked  by  two  men  in 
the  woods  and  knocked  them  both  down  and 
made  his  escape,  arrived  safe,  and  secured  his 
treasure.  He  then  observed  that  if  it  had  not 
been  for  that  stone  (which  he  acknowledged 
belonged  to  me)  he  would  not  have  obtained  the 
book. 

"A  few  days  afterward  he  told  one  of  my 
neighbors  that  he  had  not  g*ot  any  such  book, 
and  never  had  ;  but  that  he  told  the  story  to 

deceive  the  d d  fool,  (meaning*  me)  to  get 

him  to  make  a  chest.  His  neighbors  having 
become  disgusted  with  his  foolish  stories,  he 
determined  to  go  back  to  Pennsylvania  to  avoid 
what  he  called  persecution.  His  wits  were 
now  put  to  the  task  to  contrive  how  he  should 
get  money  to  bear  his  expenses. 

He  met  one  day  in  the  streets  of  Palmyra  a 


392      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

rich  man,  whose  name  was  Martin  Harris,  and 
addressed  him  thus,  *  I  have  a  commandment 
from  God  to  ask  the  first  man  I  meet  in  the 
street  to  give  me  fifty  dollars  to  assist  me  in 
doing-  the  work  of  the  Lord  by  translating-  the 
Golden  Bible. '  Martin,  being-  naturally  a  cred- 
ulous man,  handed  Joseph  the  money. 

44  In  the  spring-,  1829,  Harris  went  to  Penn- 
sylvania, and  on  his  return  to  Palmyra  re- 
ported that  the  prophet's  wife  in  the  month  of 
June  following-  would  be  delivered  of  a  male 
child  that  would  be  able,  when  two  years  old, 
to  translate  the  Golden  Bible.  '  Then, '  said  he, 
'you  will  see  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  walking 
throug-h  the  streets  of  Palmyra  with  a  gold 
Bible  under  his  arm  and  having-  a  gold  breast- 
plate on  and  a  gold  sword  hanging  by  his  side. ' 
This  however  proved  false. 

"In  April,  1830,  I  asked  Hiram  Smith  for 
the  stone  which  he  had  borrowed  of  me.  He 
told  me  I  should  not  have  it,  for  Joseph  made 
use  of  it  in  translating  his  Bible.  I  reminded 
him  of  his  promise,  and  that  he  had  pledged  his 
honor  to  return  it ;  but  he  gave  me  the  lie,  say- 
ing the  stone  was  not  mine  nor  never  was. 


Joseph  Smith's  Early  Life.  393 

Harris  at  this  time  flew  into  a  rage.  Hiram 
shook  his  fist  at  me  and  abused  me  in  a  most 
scandalous  manner. 

"Thus  I  might  proceed  in  describing-  the 
character  of  these  high  priests  by  relating  one 
transaction  after  another  which  would  tend  to 
set  them  in  the  same  light  in  which  they  were 
regarded  by  their  neighbors,  viz:  as  pests  of 
society. 

"I  have  regarded  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  from 
the  time  I  first  became  acquainted  with  him  un- 
til he  left  this  part  of  the  country,  as  a  man 
whose  word  could  not  be  depended  upon.  Hi- 
ram's character  was  but  very  little  better. 
What  I  have  said  respecting  the  character  of 
these  men  will  apply  to  the  whole  family. 
What  I  have  stated  relative  to  the  character  of 
these  individuals  thus  far  is  wholly  true.  After 
they  became  thorough  Mormons  their  conduct 
was  more  disgraceful  than  before.  They  did 
not  hesitate  to  abuse  any  man,  no  matter  how 
fair  his  character,  provided  he  did  not  embrace 
their  creed.  Their  tongues  were  continually 
employed  in  spreading  scandal  and  abuse ; 
although  they  left  this  part  of  the  country 


394      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

without  paying-  their  debts,  yet  their  creditors 
were  glad  to  have  them  do  so,  rather  than  have 
them  stay  in  the  neighborhood. 

Signed,  WILLARD  CHASE." 

"On  the  llth  day  of  December,  1833,  the 
said  Willard  Chase  appeared  before  me  and 
made  oath  that  the  foregoing  statement  to 
which  he  has  subscribed  his  name  is  true,  ac- 
cording to  his  best  recollection  and  belief. 

FREDERICK  SMITH, 
Justice  of  the  Peace  of  Wayne  county." 

Parley  Chase  affirms  the  following- :  "I  was 
acquainted  with  the  family  of  Joseph  Smith, 
Sr.,  both  before  and  since  they  became  Mor- 
mons, and  feel  free  to  state  that  not  one  of  the 
male  members  of  the  Smith  family  was  entitled 
to  any  credit  whatever.  They  were  lazy,  in- 
temperate and  worthless  men — very  much  ad- 
dicted to  lying.  In  this  they  frequently  boasted 
of  their  skill.  Digging  for  money  was  their 
principal  employment.  In  regard  to  their 
Golden  Bible  speculation  they  scarcely  ever 
told  two  stories  alike." 

The  following  is  a  part  of  Henry  Harris's 
affidavit:  "Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  the  pretended 


Joseph  Smith's  Early  Life.  395 

prophet,  used  to  pretend  to  tell  fortunes.  He 
had  a  stone  which  he  used  to  put  in  his  hat,  by 
means  of  which  he  professed  to  tell  people's 
fortunes. 

"Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  Martin  Harris  and  oth- 
ers used  to  meet  together  in  private  awhile  be- 
fore the  gold  plates  were  found  and  were  fa- 
miliarly known  by  the  name  of  the  '  Gold  Bible 
Company.'  They  were  regarded  by  the  com- 
munity in  which  they  lived  as  lying  and  indo- 
lent men,  and  no  confidence  could  be  placed  in 
them. 

"The  character  of  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  for 
truth  and  veracity  was  such  that  I  would  not 
believe  him  under  oath.  I  was  once  on  a  jury 
before  a  justice's  court,  and  the  jury  could  not 
and  did  not  believe  his  testimony  to  be  true. 
After  he  pretended  to  have  found  ~the  gold 
plates  I  had  a  conversation  with  him  and  asked 
him  where  he  found  them  and  how  he  came  to 
know  where  they  were.  He  said  he  had  a 
revelation  from  God  that  told  him  they  were 
hid  in  a  certain  hill,  and  he  looked  in  his  stone 
and  saw  them  in  the  place  of  deposit,  and  an 
angel  appeared  and  told  him  he  could  not  get 


396      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refutea. 

the  plates  until  he  was  married,  and  that  when 
he  saw  the  woman  that  was  to  be  his  wife,  he 
would  know  her  and  she  would  know  him.  He 
then  went  to  Pennsylvania  to  get  his  wife,  and 
they  both  went  tog-ether  to  get  the  gold  plates. 
He  said  it  was  revealed  to  him  that  no  one 
must  see  the  plates  but  himself  and  wife. 

"I  then  asked  him  what  letters  were  en- 
graved upon  them ;  he  said,  '  Italic  letters, 
written  in  an  unknown  language,'  and  that  he 
had  copied  some  of  the  words  and  sent  them  to 
Dr.  Mitchell  and  Professor  Anthon  of  New 
York.  By  looking  on  the  plates  he  said  he 
could  not  understand  the  words,  but  it  was 
made  known  to  him  that  he  was  the  person 
that  must  translate  them,  and  on  looking 
through  the  stone  he  was  enabled  to  translate. 

"After  the  book  was  published  I  frequently 
bantered  him  for  a  copy.  He  asked  fourteen 
shillings  apiece  for  them.  I  told  him  I  would 
not  give  so  much.  He  told  me  he  had  had  a 
revelation  that  they  must  be  sold  at  that  price." 

Abigail  Harris  has  made  the  following  affirm- 
ation which  is  sustained  by  a  similar  one  from 
Lucy,  the  wife  of  Martin  Harris : 


Joseph  Smitti 's  Early  Life.  397 

"  PALMYRA,  Wayne  County,  N.  Y. 

November  28,  1833. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  Winter  in  1828,  I 
made  a  visit  to  Martin  Harris's,  and  was  joined 
in  company  by  Joseph  Smith,  Sr.,  and  his  wife. 
The  Golden  Bible  business,  so-called,  was  the 
topic  of  conversation  to  which  I  paid  particular 
attention  that  I  might  learn  the  truth  of  the 
whole  matter.  They  told  me  that  the  report 
that  Joseph,  Jr.,  had  found  golden  plates  was 
true  and  that  he  was  in  Harmony,  Penn.,  trans- 
lating them.  The  old  lady  said  also  that  after 
the  book  was  translated  the  plates  were  to  be 
publicly  exhibited  at  twenty-five  cents.  She 
calculated  it  would  bring  in  annually  an  enor- 
mous sum  of  money — that  money  would  then  be 
plenty  and  the  book  would  also  sell  for  a  great 
price  as  it  was  something  entirely  new — that 
they  had  been  commanded  to  obtain  all  the 
money  they  could  borrow  for  present  necessity 
and  to  repay  with  gold.  The  remainder  was 
to  be  kept  in  store  for  the  benefit  of  their 
family  and  children. 

' '  This  and  the  like  conversation  detained  me 
until  about  eleven  o'clock,  Early  next  morn- 


398      Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

ing-  the  mystery  of  the  Spirit  (being-  myself  one 
of  the  order  called  Friends)  was  revealed  by 
the  following-  circumstance  :  The  old  lady  took 
me  into  another  room,  and  after  closing-  the 
door  she  said,  '  Have  you  four  or  five  dollars  in 
money  that  you  can  lend  until  our  business  is 
broug-ht  to  a  close  ?  The  Spirit  has  said  you 
shall  receive  fourfold.'  I  told  her  that  when  I 
g-ave  I  did  it  not  expecting-  to  receive  ag-ain  ;  as 
for  money  I  had  none  to  lend.  I  then  asked  her 
what  her  particular  want  of  money  was ;  to 
which  she  replied,  'Joseph  wants  to  take  the 
stag-e  and  come  home  from  Pennsylvania  to  see 
what  we  are  all  about.'  To  which  I  replied, 
'  He  mig-ht  look  in  his  stone  and  save  the  time 
and  money.'  The  old  lady  seemed  confused 
and  left  the  room,  and  thus  ended  the  visit. 

14  In  the  second  month  following-,  Martin  Har- 
ris and  his  wife  were  at  my  house.  In  conver- 
sation about  Mormonites  she  observed  that  she 
wished  her  husband  would  quit  them,  as  she 
believed  it  was  all  false  and  a  delusion.  To 
which  I  heard  Mr.  Harris  reply,  *  What  if  it  is 
a  lie ;  if  you  will  let  me  alone  I  will  make 
money  out  of  it!'  I  was  both  an  eye  and  an 


Joseph  Smith'1  s  Early  Life.  399 

ear  witness  of  what  has  been  stated  above, 
which  is  now  fresh  in  my  memory,  and  I  give  it 
to  the  world  for  the  good  of  mankind.  I  speak 
the  truth  and  lie  not,  God  bearing  me  witness. 

ABIGAIL  HARRIS." 

Joseph  Capron,  after  detailing  sundry  necro- 
mantic exploits  of  Smith's,  adds  : 

"At  length  Joseph  pretended  to  find  the  gold 
plates.  This  scheme,  he  believed,  would  re- 
lieve the  family  from  all  pecuniary  embarrass- 
ment. His  father  told  me  that  when  the  book 
was  published,  they  would  be  enabled  from  the 
profits  of  the  work  to  carry  into  successful 
operation  the  money-digging  business.  He 
gave  me  no  intimation  at  that  time  that  the 
book  was  to  be  of  a  religious  character,  or  that 
it  had  anything  to  do  with  revelation.  He  de- 
clared it  to  be  a  speculation,  and,  said  he, 
*  When  it  is  complete  my  family  will  be  placed 
on  a  level  or  above  the  generality  of  man- 
kind.'" 

The  scene  will  now  change  from  the  state  of 
New  York  to  that  of  Pennsylvania  where  we 
shall  learn  some  further  particulars  respecting 
the  character  and  operations  of  these  pretend- 


400      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

ers  from  persons  well  qualified  to  judge  of 
them.  Smith's  father-in-law,  Mr.  Hale,  testi- 
fies to  the  following*  among"  other  particulars : 
"HARMONY,  Pa.,  March  20,  1834. 

I  first  became  acquainted  with  Joseph  Smith, 
Jr.,  in  November,  1825.  He  was  at  that  time 
in  the  employ  of  a  set  of  men  who  were  called 
4  money-diggers, '  and  his  occupation  was  that 
of  seeing1  or  pretending"  to  see  by  means  of  a 
stone  placed  in  his  hat,  and  his  hat  closed  over 
his  face.  In  this  way  he  pretended  to  discover 
minerals  and  hidden  treasure. 

"About  this  time  young"  Smith  made  several 
visits  to  my  house,  and  at  length  asked  my  con- 
sent to  marry  my  daughter,  Emma.  This  I 
refused  and  g"ave  my  reasons  for  so  doing",  some 
of  which  were  that  he  was  a  strang-er  and  fol- 
lowed a  business  I  could  not  approve  of.  He 
then  left  the  place.  Not  long"  after  this  he  re- 
turned, and  while  I  was  absent  from  home  car- 
ried off  my  daughter  to  the  state  of  New  York 
where  they  were  married  without  my  approba- 
tion or  consent. 

"Soon  after  this  I  was  informed  they  had 
brought  a  wonderful  book  of  plates  down  with 


Joseph  Smith? s  Early  Life.  401 

them.  I  was  shown  a  box  in  which  it  was  said 
they  were  contained,  which  had,  to  all  appear- 
ance, been  used  as  a  glass  box,  of  common  win- 
dow glass.  I  was  allowed  to  feel  the  weight  of 
the  box,  and  they  gave  me  to  understand  that 
the  book  of  plates  was  then  in  the  box. 

"I  inquired  of  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  who  was  to 
be  the  first  who  would  be  allowed  to  see  "the 
book  of  plates.  He  said  it  was  a  young  child. 
After  this  I  became  dissatisfied  and  informed 
him  that  if  there  was  anything  in  my  hquse  of 
that  description  which  I  could  not  be  allowed 
to  see,  he  must  take  it  away ;  if  he  did  not  I 
was  determined  to  see  it.  After  that  the  plates 
were  said  to  be  hid  away  in  the  woods. 

"About  this  time  Martin  Harris  made  his 
appearance  upon  the  stage,  and  Smith  began  to 
interpret  the  characters,  or  hieroglyphics,  which 
he  said  were  engraven  upon  the  plates,  while 
Harris  wrote  down  the  interpretation.  It  was 
said  that  Harris  wrote  down  one  hundred  and 
sixteen  pages  and  lost  them.  Soon  after  this 
happened  Martin  Harris  informed  me  that  he 
must  have  a  greater  -witness,  and  said  he  had 

talked  with  Joseph  about  it.      Joseph  informed 
26 


402      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

him  that  he  could  not,  or  durst  not,  show  him 
the  plates ;  but  that  he  (Joseph)  would  go  into 
the  woods  where  the  book  of  plates  were,  and 
that  after  he  came  back  Harris  should  follow 
his  track  in  the  snow  and  find  the  book  and  ex- 
amine it  for  himself.  Harris  told  me  that  he 
followed  Smith's  direction  and  could  not  find 
the  plates,  and  was  still  dissatisfied. 

4 'The  next  day  after  this  happened  I  went  to 
the  house  where  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  lived  and 
where  he  and  Harris  were  engaged  in  their 
translation  of  the  book.  Each  of  them  had  a 
written  piece  of  paper  which  they  were  com- 
paring, and  some  of  the  words  were,  'My  ser- 
vant seeketh  a  greater  witness,  but  no  greater 
witness  can  be  given  him.'  There  was  also 
something  said  about  *  Three  that  were  to  see 
the  thing-' — meaning,  I  suppose,  the  book  of 
plates,  and  that  'If  the  three  did  not  go  exactly 
according"  to  the  orders,  the  thing  would  be 
taken  from  them. '  I  inquired  whose  words  they 
were  and  was  informed  by  Joseph  or  Emma  (I 
rather  think  it  was  the  former)  that  they  were 
the  words  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  told  them  I  con- 
sidered the  whole  of  it  a  delusion,  and  advised 


Joseph  Smith's  Early  Life.  403 

them  to  abandon  it.  The  manner  in  which  he 
pretended  to  read  and  interpret  was  the  same 
as  when  he  looked  for  the  money-diggers,  with 
the  stone  in  his  hat,  and  his  hat  over  his  face, 
while  at  the  same  time  the  book  of  plates  were 
hid  in  the  woods. 

"After  this  Martin  Harris  went  away  and 
Oliver  Cowdery  came  and  wrote  for  Smith 
while  he  interpreted  as  above  described.  This 
is  the  same  Oliver  Cowdery  whose  name  may 
be  found  in  the  Book  of  Mormon.  Cowdery 
continued  a  scribe  for  Smith  until  the  Book  of 
Mormon  was  completed,  as  I  supposed  and  un- 
derstood. 

"Affirmed  to  and  subscribed  before  me, 
March  20,  1834.  CHARLES  DIMON, 

Justice  of  the  Peace." 
' '  STATE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA, 

Susquehannah  County. 

We,  the  subscribers,  associate  judges  of  the 
court  of  common  pleas,  in  and  for  said  county, 
do  certify  that  we  have*  been  many  years  per- 
sonally acquainted  with  Isaac  Hale,  of  Har- 
mony township,  in  this  county,  who  have  at- 
tested the  foregoing  statement ;  and  that  he  is  a 


404      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

man  of  excellent  moral  character,   and  of  un- 
doubted veracity.     Witness  our  hands. 

WII,I,IAM  THOMPSON, 
DAVIS  DEMICK" 

Rev.  N.  C.  Lewis,  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  also  certifies  and  affirms  in  relation 
to  Smith  as  follows  : 

"  March  20,  1834. 

I  have  been  acquainted  with  Joseph  Smith, 
Jr.,  for  some  time.  Being-  a  relative  of  his 
wife,  and  residing  near  him,  I  have  had  fre- 
quent opportunities  of  conversation  with  him 
and  of  knowing  his  opinions  and  pursuits. 
From  my  standing-  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  I  suppose  he  was  careful  how  he  con- 
ducted or  expressed  himself  to  me.  At  one 
time,  however,  he  came  to  my  house  and  asked 
my  advice,  whether  he  should  translate  the 
book  of  plates  (referred  to  by  Mr.  Hale)  or  not. 
He  said  that  God  had  commanded  him  to  trans- 
late it,  but  he  was  afraid  of  the  people.  He 
remarked  that  he  was  to  exhibit  the  plates  to 
the  world,  at  a  certain  time,  which  was  then 
about  eighteen  months  distant.  I  told  him 
was  not  qualified  to  g-ive  advice  in  such  cases, 


Joseph  Smith's  Early  Life.  405 

Smith  frequently  said  to  me  that  I  should  see 
the  plates  at  the  time  appointed. 

"After  the  time  stipulated  had  passed  away, 
Smith  being-  at  my  house,  I  asked  him  why  he  did 
not  fulfill  his  promise  and  show  the  plates  at 
the  time  appointed  and  prove  himself  an  honest 
man  ?  He  replied  that  he  himself  was  deceived, 
but  that  I  should  see  them  if  I  was  where  they 
were.  I  told  him  then  that  at  the  time  he  made 
the  promise  I  was  fearful  '  the  enchantment 
would  be  so  powerful '  as  to  remove  the  plates 
when  the  time  came  in  which  they  were  to  be 
revealed. 

' '  These  circumstances  and  many  others  of  a 
similar  tenor  embolden  me  to  say  that  Joseph 
Smith,  Jr.,  is  not  a  man  of  truth  and  veracity, 
and  that  his  general  character  in  this  part  of 
the  country  is  that  of  an  impostor,  hypocrite 
and  liar. 

NATHANIEL  C.  LEWIS." 

"Affirmed  and  subscribed  before  me,  March 
21,  1834.  CHARLES  DIMON, 

Justice  of  the  Peace." 

Alva  Hale,  son  of  Isaac  Hale,  (brother-in-law 
to  Joseph  Smith,)  states  that  Joseph  Smith, 


406      Aforinonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

Jr. ,  told  him  that  his  g-if  t  of  seeing-  with  a  stone 
in  his  hat,  was  'a  g-ift  from  God,'  but  also 
states  that  Smith  told  him  at  other  times,  that 
this  peeping-  was  all  damned  nonsense.  Smith 
said  he  was  deceived  himself,  but  did  not  in- 
tend to  deceive  others ;  that  he  intended  to  quit 
the  Business  of  peeping-  and  labor  for  a  living-. 
Afterwards  Smith  told  him  he  should  see  the 
plates  from  which  he  translated  the  Book  of 
Mormon,  and  at  the  time^specified  by  Smith  he 
(Hale)  called  to  see  the  plates,  but  Smith  did 
not  show  them,  but  appeared  angry.  He  fur- 
ther states  that  he  knows  Joseph  Smith,  Jr., 
to  be  an  impostor  and  a  liar,  and  knows  Martin 
Harris  to  be  a  liar  likewise. 

Levi  Lewis  states  that  he  has  been  ac- 
quainted with  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  and  Martin 
Harris,  and  that  he  has  heard  them  both  say 
adultery  was  no  crime.  Mr.  Lewis  says  that 
he  knows  Smith  to  be  a  liar  ;  that  he  saw  him 
intoxicated  at  three  different  times  while  busy 
with  the  Book  of  Mormon,  and  also  that  he  has 
heard  Smith,  when  driving-  oxen,  use  lang-uag-e 
of  the  greatest  profanity.  Mr.  Lewis  also  tes- 
tifies that  he  heard  Smith  say  he  was  as  g-ood 


Joseph  Smith's  Early  Life.  407 

as  Jesus  Christ ;  that  it  was  as  bad  to  injure  him 
as  it  was  to  injure  Jesus  Christ.  With  regard 
to  the  plates,  Smith  said  God  had  deceived  him, 
which  was  the  reason  he  had  not  shown 
them. 

Sophia  Lewis  certifies  that  she  heard  a  con- 
versation between  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  and  the 
Rev.  James  B.  Roach,  in  which  Smith  called 
Mr.  R.  a  damned  fooL  Smith  also  said,  in  the 
same  conversation,  that  he  was  as  good  as 
Jesus  Christ,  and  that  she  had  frequently  heard 
Smith  use  profane  language.  She  states  that 
she  heard  Smith  say  the  book  of  plates  could 
not  be  opened,  under  penalty  of  death,  by  any 
other  person  but  his  first-born,  which  was  to 
be  a  male.  She  says  she  was  present  at  the 
birth  of  this  child  and  that  it  was  still-born 
and  very  much  deformed. 

Such  a  man  as  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  we  are  yet 
told  by  the  Mormons  at  the  present  day,  1892, 
was  divinely  appointed  to  usher  in  the  fullness 
of  the  gospel  of  peace  and  righteousness.  That 
the  system  of  Mormonism  is  the  little  stone  cut 
out  of  the  mountain  without  hands  (spoken  of 
by  Daniel  the  prophet)  which  is  to  roll  forth 


408      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

and  fill  the  whole  earth  and  break  in  pieces  all 
other  kingdoms  and  stand  forever. 

A  writer  on  Mormonism  has  said,  *  *  We  will 
indulg-e  for  a  moment,  that  for  wise  and  worthy 
purposes,  God  did  then  and  there  make  a  reve- 
lation to  the  human  family  of  special  events 
that  should  come  to  pass.  It  next  becomes  im- 
portant to  inquire  who  are  the  chosen  vessels 
by  whom  the  Almighty,  condescended  to  dis- 
pense such  grace  to  the  world.  From  what 
we  know  of  the  former-day  saints  and  prophets, 
1  men  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy, '  we 
should  expect  if  there  were  any  righteous  upon 
earth — any  full  of  faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost- 
any  who  were  watching  with  prayers  and  tears 
for  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  that  God  would 
select  some  such  to  make  known  his  will  in 
these  latter-days.  But  the  testimony  of  his 
neighbors  and  those  well  acquainted  with  him, 
as  above  shown,  shows  that  the  standing  and 
character  of  Smith  among  those  who  knew  him 
best,  was  the  very  opposite  of  a  man  of  truth 
and  veracity." 

We  feel  sure  that  Smith  could  not  have  such 
a  name  and  standing  as  the  above  testimonies 


Joseph  Smith's  Early  Life.  409 

would  go  to  show,  if  he  had  conducted  himself 
as  an  honest,  truthful  man.  Every  community 
knows  the  general  tenor  of  their  nearest  neigh- 
bors, who  are  raised  and  live  a  length  of  time 
among  them.  Smith  had  made  his  own  char- 
acter among  those  he  so  long  had  mingled  with, 
and  had  he  been  as  good  a  man  in  general  char- 
acter as  he  should  have  been  and  such  as  God 
would  necessarily  select  as  one  of  his  elect,  his 
neighbors  never  would  have  deliberately  made 
such  sworn  statements  in  relation  to  him  as  the 
foregoing.  I  confess  I  have  never  lived  in,  nor 
have  I  ever  known  a  neighborhood,  where  an 
ordinary,  good  citizen  would,  or  could,  be  con- 
demned by  such  a  mass  of  reputable,  good  citi- 
zens as  the  above  who  testify  against  Smith's 
immoralities.  Surely  his  standing  where  best 
known  was  very  objectionable. 

I  urge  the  reader,  should  he  or  she  have  any 
sympathy  or  inclinations  towardMormonism,  to 
reflect  on  such  testimonies  as  the  above  in  rela- 
tion to  the  man  Smith,  the  founder  of  the  sys- 
tem in  question,  "The  tree  is  known  by  its 
fruits."  Smith  was  known  by  his  fruits — by 
his  conduct.  "A  good  tree  cannot  bring  forth 


410      Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

evil  fruit ;  neither  can  an  evil  tree  bring-  forth 
good  fruit."  If  Smith  was  a  good  m-an — a 
man  after  the  spirit  and  likeness  of  Jesus 
Christ,  his  religious  institution,  his  conduct, 
his  principles,  must  be  Christ-like.  God  does 
not  make  choice  of  wicked  people  as  represent- 
atives of  himself  and  the  law  of  righteousness. 
The  spirit  of  Jesus  and  his  apostles  is  summed 
up  in  this,  "Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the 
law." 

A  number  of  these  seventy-five  witnesses, 
whose  testimony  goes  to  show  that  Smith  was 
not  a  man  of  truth  and  veracity,  also  show  that 
Martin  Harris  was  an  equal  to  Smith  in  decep- 
tion and  selfishness  ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  fam- 
ily of  Smiths.  I  urge  again  that  the  readers 
particularly  acquaint  themselves  with  the  na- 
ture of  the  testimonies  of  these  seventy-five 
persons,  and  they  will  fully  realise  the  unpar- 
alleled wickedness  of  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  and 
Martin  Harris,  the  two  principal  characters  at 
the  commencement,  and  who  figure  prominently 
in  the  development  of  the  system.  "Ye  shall 
know  them  by  their  fruits." 

Should  there  be  no  other  proof  against  the 


Joseph  Smith'1  s  Early  Life.  411 

system  of  Mormbnism  than  the  testimonies  of 
the  foregoing-  witnesses,  it  should  take  a  super- 
abundance of  divine  proof  to  overcome  it, 
knowing*  that  "a  corrupt  fountain  cannot  send 
forth  pure  water." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

ORIGIN    OF    THE    BOOK    OP     MORMON — SPAI^D- 
ING  MANUSCRIPT. 

1  SHALL/  now  give  additional  proof  against 
Smith  and  his  system  of  religion  by  quot- 
ing more  fully  from  the  work,  "Mormonism 
and  the  Mormons,"  by  D.  P.  Kidder. 

'*  Leaving  the  prophet  and  his  coadjutors  in 
their  employment  of  peeping  and  comparing 
notes  on  the  banks  of  the  Susquehanna,  we 
shall  now  introduce  to  the  reader  an  individual 
hitherto  behind  the  curtain,  but  who  was  des- 
tined to  act  a  prominent  part  in  the  farce  of 
Mormonism.  This  is  none  other  than  Sidney 
Rigdon,  known  at  that  time  in  the  northern 
counties  of  Ohio  as  a  Campbellite  preacher  of 
some  distinction,  and  reputed  to  possess  more 
than  ordinary  shrewdness.  A  combination  of 
circumstances  indicates  him  to  have  been  the 
prime  mover  of  the  whole  contrivance,  as  far 
as  a  religious  imposition  was  concerned. 

The  leading  features  of  what  has  been  pub- 
(412) 


Origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  413 

lished  to  the  world  as  the  Book  of  Mormon, 
was  conceived  and  written  out  as  early  as  the 
year  1810  or  1811  by  one  Solomon  Spalding-. 
Of  Spalding-  we  have  the  following*  account, 
written  by  his  surviving;  brother,  a  resident  of 
Crawford  County,  Pennsylvania : 

"Solomon  Spalding-  was  born  in  Ashford, 
Conn.,  in  1761,  and  in  early  life  contracted  a 
taste  for  literary  pursuits.  After  he.  left 
school  he  entered  Plainfield  Academy,  where 
he  made  great  proficiency  in  study,  and  ex- 
celled most  of  his  classmates.  He  soon  after 
entered  Dartmouth  Colleg-e,  with  the  intent  of 
qualifying-  himself  for  the  ministry.  At  this 
place  he  obtained  the  degree  of  A.  M.,  and  was 
afterward  reg-ularly  ordained.  After  preach- 
ing- three  or  four  years,  he  g-ave  it  up.  In  the 
year  1809  he  removed  to  Conneaut,  in  Ohio,  and 
eng-ag-ed  in  building-  a  forg-e.  I  made  him  a 
visit  in  about  three  years  after,  and  found  he 
had  failed  and  was  considerably  in  debt.  He 
then  told  me  he  had  been  writing-  a  book,  which 
he  intended  to  have  published,  the  avails  of 
which,  he  thoug-ht,  would  enable  him  to  pay  all 
his  debts.  The  book  was  entitled,  '  The  Man- 


414      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refutea. 

uscript  Pound,'  of  which  he  read  to  me  many 
passages.  It  was  a  historical  romance  of  the 
first  settlers  of  America,  endeavoring*  to  show 
that  the  American  Indians  are  the  descendants 
of  the  Jews,  or  'the  lost  tribes.'  It  gave  a  de- 
tailed account  of  their  journey  from  Jerusalem, 
by  land  and  sea,  till  they  arrived  in  America, 
under  the  command  of  Nephi  and  Lehi.  They 
afterwards  had  quarrels  and  contentions,  and 
separated  into  two  distinct  nations,  one  of 
which  he  denominated  Nephites,  and  the  other 
Lamanites.  Cruel  and  bloody  wars  ensued,  in 
which  great  multitudes  were  slain.  They 
buried  their  dead  in  great  heaps,  which  caused 
the  mounds  so  common  in  this  country.  Their 
arts,  sciences,  and  civilization  were  brought  to 
view,  in  order  to  account  for  all  the  curious  an- 
tiquities found  in  various  parts  of  North  and 
South  America.  I  have  recently  read  the  Book 
of  Mormon,  and,  to  my  great  surprise,  I  find 
nearly  the  same  historical  matter,  names,  etc., 
as  they  were  in  my  brother's  writings.  I  well 
remember  that  he  wrote  in  the  old  style,  and 
commenced  about  every  sentence  with,  'And  it 
came  to  pass,'  or  'Now  it  came  to  pass,' the 


Origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  415 

same  as  the  Book  of  Mormon,  and,  according-  to 
the  best  of  my  recollection  and  belief,  it  is  the 
same  as  my  brother  Solomon  wrote,  with  the 
exception  of  the  religious  matter.  By  what 
means  it  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  Joseph 
Smith,  Jr.,  I  am  unable  to  determine. 

"  JOHN  SP ADDING." 

Martha  Spalding-,  the  wife  of  John  Spalding-, 
says : 

"I  was  personally  acquainted  with  Solomon 
Spalding-.  About  twenty  years  ag-o  I  was  at 
his  house  a  short  time  before  he  left  Conneaut ; 
he  was  then  writing-  an  historical  novel,  found- 
ed upon  the  first  settlers  of  America.  He  rep- 
resented them  as  an  enlig-htened  and  warlike 
people.  He  had  for  many  years  contended  that 
the  aborigines  of  America  were  the  descend- 
ants of  some  of  the  lost  tribes  of  Israel,  and 
this  idea  he  carried  out  in  the  book  in  question. 
The  lapse  of  time  which  has  intervened  pre- 
vents my  recollecting-  but  few  of  the  leading- 
incidents  of  his  writing's ;  but  the  names  of 
Nephi  and  Lehi  are  yet  fresh  in  my  memory,  as 
being-  the  principal  heroes  of  his  tale!,  They 
were  officers  of  the  company  which  first  came 


416      Mormowism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

from  Jerusalem.  He  gave  a  particular  account 
of  their  journey  by  land  and  sea,  till  they  ar- 
rived in  America ;  after  which  disputes  arose 
between  the  chiefs,  which  caused  them  to  sep- 
arate into  different  bands,  one  of  which  was 
called  Lamanites  and  the  other  Nephites.  Be- 
tween these  wrere  recounted  tremendous  bat- 
tles, which  frequently  covered  the  ground  with 
slain,  and  their  being  buried  in  large  heaps  was 
the  cause  of  the  numerous  mounds  in  the  coun- 
try. Some  of  these  people  he  represented  as 
being  very  large.  I  have  read  the  Book  of 
Mormon,  which  has  broug-ht  fresh  to  my  mind 
the  writings  of  Solomon  Spalding,  and  I  have 
no  manner  of  doubt  that  the  historical  part  of 
it  is  the  same  that  I  read,  and  heard  read,  more 
than  twenty  years  ago.  The  old,  obsolete 
style,  and  the  phrases  of  'And  it  came  to  pass,' 
etc.,  are  the  same." 

"CONNEAUT,  ASHTABULA  COUNTY,  ) 
"September,  1833.        j 

"I  left  the  State  of  New  York  late  in  the 
year  1810,  and  arrived  at  this  place  about  the 
first  of  January  following.  Soon  after  my  ar- 
rival I  formed  a  partnership  with  Solomon 


Origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  417 

Spalding  for  the  purpose  of  rebuilding*  a  forge 
which  he  had  commenced  a  year  or 'two  before. 
He  very  frequently  read  to  me  from  a  manu- 
script which  he  was  writing-,  which  he  entitled 
the  'Manuscript  Found,'  and  which  he  repre- 
sented as  being  found  in  this  town.  I  spent 
many  hours  in  hearing  him  read  from  said 
writings,  and  became  well  acquainted  with 
their  contents.  He  wished  me  to  assist  him  in 
getting  his  production  printed,  alleging  that  a 
book  of  that  kind  would  meet  with  rapid  sale. 
I  designed  doing  so,  but  the  forge  not  meeting 
with  our  anticipations,  we  failed  in  business, 
and  I  declined  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the 
publication  of  the  book.  This  book  represent- 
ed the  American  Indians  as  the  descendants  of 
the  lost  tribes ;  gave  an  account  of  their  leav- 
ing Jerusalem ;  their  contentions  and  wars, 
which  were  many  and  great.  One  time  when 
he  was  reading  to  me  the  tragic  account  of 
Laban,  I  pointed  out  to  him  what  I  considered 
an  inconsistency,  which  he  promised  to  correct ; 
but  by  reading  the  Book  of  Mormon,  I  find,  to 
my  surprise,  that  it  stands  there  just  as  he  read 

it  to  me  then.     Some  months  ago  I  borrowed 

27 


418      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

the  Golden  Bible,  and  when  I  got  home  my  wife 
commenced  reading  it  aloud  as  I  lay  on  the  bed. 
She  had  read  but  little  before  I  was  astonished 
to  find  the  same  passages  in  it  that  Spalding 
had  read  to  me  more  than  twenty  years  before 
from  his  'Manuscript  Found.'  Since  that,  I 
have  more  fully  examined  the  said  'Golden 
Bible,'  and  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that 
the  historical  part  of  it  is  principally,  if  not 
wholly,  taken  from  the  'Manuscript  Found.' 
I  well  recollect  telling  Mr.  Spalding  that  the 
frequent  use  of  the  words  'And  it  came  to  pass,' 
'Now  it  came  to  pass,'  rendered  it  ridiculous. 
Spalding  left  here  in  1812,  and  I  furnished  him 
the  means  to  carry  him  to  Pittsburgh,  where 
he  said  he  would  get  the  book  printed,  and  pay 
me ;  but  I  never  heard  any  more  of  him  or  his 
writings,  till  I  saw  them  in  the  '  Book  of  Mor- 
mon.' HENRY  LAKE." 
"SPRINGFIELD,  PA.,  Sept.  1833. 
"In  the  year  1811  I  was  in  the  employ  of 
Henry  Lake  and  Solomon  Spalding,  at  Con- 
neaut,  engaged  in  rebuilding  a  forge.  While 
there  I  boarded  and  lodged  in  the  family  of  said 
Spalding  for  several  months.  I  was  soon  in- 


Origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  419 

troduced  to  the  manuscript  of  Spalding,  and 
perused  it-  as  often  as  I  had  leisure.  He  had 
written  two  or  three  books  or  pamphlets  on  dif- 
ferent subjects,  but  that  which  more  particu- 
larly drew  my  attention,  was  one  he  called  the 
'  Manuscript  Found.'  From  this  he  would  fre- 
quently read  some  particular  passages  to  the 
company  present.  It  purported  to  be  a  history 
of  the  first  settlement  of  America,  before  dis- 
covered by  Columbus.  He  brought  them  off  from 
Jerusalem,  under  their  leaders,  detailing  their 
travels  by  land  and  water,  their  manners,  cus- 
toms, laws,  wars,  etc.  He  said  that  he  de- 
signed it  as  an  historical  novel,  and  that  in 
after  years  it  would  be  believed  by  many  people 
as  much  as  the  history  of  England.  He  soon 
after  failed  in  business,  and  told  me  he  should 
retire  from  the  din  of  his  creditors,  finish  his 
book,  and  have  it  published,  which  would  en- 
able him  to  pay  his  debts  and  support  his  fam- 
ly.  He  soon  after  removed  to  Pittsburgh,  as  I 
understood. 

"  I  have  recently  examined  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon, and  find  in  it  the  writings  of  Solomon 
Spalding,  irom  beginning  to  end,  but  mixed  up 


420      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

with  scripture  and  other  religious  matter,  which 
I  did  not  meet  with  in  the  *  Manuscript  Found.' 
Many  of  the  passages  in  the  Book  of  Mormon 
are  verbatim  from  Spalding.  The  names  of 
Nephi,  Lehi,  Moroni,  and  in  fact  all  the  princi- 
pal names,  are  brought  fresh  to  my  recollection 
by  the  Gold  Bible.  Spaldingin  his  manuscript 
landed  his  people  near  the  Straits  of  Darien, 
which  I  think  he  called  Zarahemla.  They  were 
marched  about  the  country  for  a  length  of  time, 
in  which  wars  and  great  bloodshed  ensues.  He 
brought  them  across  North  America,  in  a  north- 
east direction. 

"  JOHN  N.  MiiyivBR." 

* 

"  CONNEAUT,  August,  1833. 
"I  first  became  acquainted  with  Solomon 
Spalding  in  1808  or  1809,  when  he  commenced 
building  a  forge  on  Conneaut  Creek.  When  at 
his  home,  one  day,  he  showed  and  read  to  me  a 
history  he  was  writing  of  the  lost  tribes  of  Is- 
rael, purporting  that  they  were  the  first  set- 
tlers of  America,  and  that  the  Indians  were 
their  descendants.  Upon  this  subject  we  had 
frequent  conversations.  He  traced  their  jour- 
ney from  Jerusalem  to  America,  as  it  is  given 


Origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  421 

in  the  Book  of  Mormon,  excepting  the  religious 
matter.  The  historical  part  of  the  Book  of 
Mormon  I  know  to  be  the  same  as  I  read  from 
the  writings  of  Spalding,  more  than  twenty 
years  ago ;  the  names,  more  especially,  are  t'he 
same,  without  any  alteration.  He  told  me  his 
object  was  to  account  for  all  the  fortifications, 
etc.,  to  be  found  in  this  country,  and  said  that 
in  time  it  would  be  fully  believed  by  all,  ex- 
cept learned  men  and  historians.  I  once  antic- 
ipated reading  his  writings  in  print,  but  little 
expected  to  see  them  in  a  new  Bible.  Spalding 
had  many  other  manuscripts,  which  I  expect  to 
see  when  Smith  translates  his  other  plates. 
In  conclusion,  I  will  observe  that  the  names  of, 
and  most  of  the  historical  parts  of,  the  Book  of 
Mormon  were  as  familiar  to  me  before  I  read 
it  as  most  modern  history.  If  it  is  not  Spald- 
ing's  writing,  it  is  the  same  as  he  wrote ;  and 
if  Smith  was  inspired,  I  think  he  was  inspired 
by  the  same  spirit  that  Spalding'  was,  which 
he  confessed  to  be  the  love  of  money. 

"AARON  WRIGHT." 
•'CoNN^AUT,  August,  1833. 
"When  Solomon  Spalding  first  came  to  this 


422      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

place,  he  purchased  a  tract  of  land,  surveyed 
it  out,  and  commenced  selling-  it.  While  en- 
gaged in  the  business  he  boarded  at  my  house, 
in  all  nearly  six  months.  All  his  leisure  hours 
were  occupied  in  writing-  an  historical  novel, 
founded  upon  the  first  settlers  of  this  country. 
He  said  he  intended  to  trace  their  journey  from 
Jerusalem,  by  land  and  sea,  till  their  arrival  in 
America ;  g-ive  an  account  of  their  arts,  sci- 
ences, civilization,  wars,  and  contentions.  In 
this  way  he  would  g-ive  a  satisfactory  account 
of  all  the  old  mounds  so  common  in  this  coun- 
try. During-  the  time  he  was  at  my  house,  I 
read,  and  heard  read,  one  hundred  -pag-es  or 
more.  Nephi  and  Lehi  were  represented  by 
him  as  leading-  characters,  when'  they  first 
started  for  America.  Their  main  object  was 
to  escape  the  judg-ments  which  they  supposed 
were  to  come  upon  the  Old  World.  But  no  re- 
lig-ious  matter  was  introduced,  as  I  now  recol- 
lect. Just  before  he  left  this  place,  Spalding- 
sent  for  me  to  call  on  him,  which  I  did.  He 
then  said,  that  although  he  was  in  my  debt  he 
intended  to  leave  the  country,  and  hoped  I 
would  not  prevent  him,  'for,'  said  he,  'you 


Origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  423 

know  I  have  been  writing*  the  history  of  the 
first  settlement  of  America,  and  I  intend  to  go 
Pittsburgh,  and  there  live  a  retired  life  till  I 
have  completed  the  work,  and  when  it  is  print- 
ed it  will  bring*  me  a  fine  sum  of  money,  which 
will  enable  me  to  return  and  pay  off  all  my 
debts.  The  book,  you  know. will  sell,  as  every 
one  is  anxious  to  learn  something-  upon  that  sub- 
ject.' This  was  the  last  I  heard  of  Spalding- 
or  his  book,  until  the  Book  of  Mormon  came 
into  the  neighborhood.  When  I  heard  the  his- 
torical part  of  it  related,  I  at  once  said  it  was 
the  writing-  of  old  Solomon  Spalding".  Soon 
after,  I  obtained  the  book,  and,  on  reading-  it, 
found  much  of  it  the  same  as  Spalding-  had 
written  more  than  twenty  years  before. 

"OLIVER  SMITH." 

"I  first  became  acquainted  with  Solomon 
Spalding-  in  December,  1810.  After  that  time 
I  frequently  saw  him  at  his  house,  and  also  at 
my  house.  I  once,  in  conversation  with  him, 
expressed  my  surprise  at  not  having-  any  ac- 
count of  the  former  inhabitants  of  this  coun- 
try, who  erected  the  old  forts  and  mounds,  etc. 
He  then  told  me  he  was  writing-  a  history  of 


424     Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

that  race  of  people,  and  afterward  frequently 
showed  me  his  writing's,  which  I  read.  I  have 
lately  read  the  Book  of  Mormon,  and  believe  it 
to  be  the  same  as  Spalding  wrote,  except  the 
religious  part.  He  told  me  he  intended  to  get 
his  writings  published  in  Pittsburgh,  and  he 
thought  that  in  one  century  from  that  time  it 
would  be  believed  as  much  as  any  other  history. 

"NAHUM  HOWARD." 

Artemus  Cunningham,  of  Perry,  Geauga 
County,  states  as  follows  : 

"In  the  month  of  October,  1811,  I  went  from 
the  township  of  Madison  to  Conneaut,  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  a  debt  due  me  from  Solo- 
mon Spalding.  I  tarried  with  him  nearly  two 
days,  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  my  ob- 
ject, which  I  was  finally  unable  to  do.  I  found 
him  destitute  of  the  means  of  paying  his  debts. 
His  only  hope  of  paying  his  debts  appeared  to 
be  upon  the  sale  of  a  book  which  he  was  writ- 
ing. He  endeavored  to  convince  me,  from  the 
nature  and  character  of  the  work,  that  it  would 
meet  with  a  ready  sale.  Before  showing  me 
his  manuscript,  he  went  into  a  verbal  relation 
of  its  outlines,  saying  that  it  was  a  fabulous  or 


Origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  425 

romantic  history  of  the  first  settlement  of  this 
country,  and  as  it  purported  to  have  been  a 
record  found  buried  in  the  earth,  or  in  a  cave, 
he  had  adopted  the  ancient  or  scripture  style  of 
writing-.  He  then  presented  his  manuscripts, 
when  we  sat  down  and  spent  a  good  share  of 
the  night  in  reading  them  and  conversing  upon 
them.  I  well  remember  the  name  of  Nephi, 
who  appeared  to  be  the  principal  hero  of  the 
story.  The  frequent  repetition  of  the  phrase, 
4 1,  Nephi,'  I  recollect  as  distinctly  as  though  it 
was  but  yesterday,  although  the  general  feat- 
ures of  the  story  have  passed  from  my  memory 
through  the  lapse  of  twenty-two  years.  He 
attempted  to  account  for  the  numerous  antiqui- 
ties which  are  found  upon  this  continent,  and 
remarked  that  after  this  generation  had  passed 
away,  his  account  of  the  first  inhabitants  of 
America  would  be  considered  as  authentic  as 
any  other  history.  The  Mormon  Bible  I  have 
partially  examined,  and  am  fully  of  the  opinion 
that  Solomon  Spalding  had  written  its  outlines 
before. he  left  Conneaut." 

I  have  given  to  the  reader  these  eight  testi- 
monials   showing    that  the  Book   of    Mormon 


426      Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

is  made  up  from  Solomon  Spalding-'s  book, 
' '  Manuscript  Found . ' '  Such  testimonials  need 
no  comment ;  they  show  clearly  on  their  face 
what  they  are  introduced  to  prove,  and  as  clear- 
ly prove  what  they  are  intended  to  show.  If 
these  witnesses  prove  anything-  at  all — and 
surely  they  strictly  do — they  prove  that  Joseph 
Smith,  Jr.,  did  not  come  in  possession  of  the 
Book  of  Mormon  as  he  claims  he  did.  These 
eig-ht  witnesses  prove  conclusively,  almost  to  a 
demonstration,  that  Solomon  Spalding-'s  book, 
"  Manuscript  Found,"  was  the  basis  or  foun- 
dation on  which  the  Book  of  Mormon,  in  its 
present  form,  was  constructed,  and  that  Smith's 
claim  to  finding-  g-old  plates  on  which  was  con- 
tained the  subject-matter  of  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon, is  one  of  the  most  daring-  relig-ious  impo- 
sitions ever  offered  to  the  world.  To  m}^  mind, 
these  witnesses  prove  beyond  the  least  shadow 
of  doubt,  that  Smith  or  Rig-don,  or  both,  with 
their  aids,  reconstructed,  adding-  the  relig-ious 
part  to  Spalding-'s  book,  and  palmed  it  off  on 
the  poor,  fallen  sons  of  humanity  as  //^'.sacred 
book  of  God  to  man.  Such  daring-,  diabolical 
deception,  under  the  pretense  of  God  and  his 


Origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  427 

Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  looks 
to  an  honest,  candid  mind  as  though  the 
very  devil  had  outdone  himself.  Surely  Mor- 
monism  is  a  sent  delusion — sent  by  means  of 
Joseph  Smith,  Jr.  The  character  and  standing- 
of  Smith,  which  was  set  forth  by  seventy-five 
of  those  well  acquainted  with  him,  including- 
his  father-in-law  and  brother-in-law,  and  proven 
to  be  a  person  fully  fitted  for  the  development 
of  such  a  system  as  Mormonism  has  proved  to 
be,  as  much  so  as  was  Judas,  who  "was  a  devil 
from  the  beginning*,"  and  who  ended  his  life  in 
the  midst  of  his  wicked  course. 

Having-  established  the  fact  that  the  Book  of 
Mormon  was  the  reconstructed  Solomon  Spald- 
ing-'s  historical  novel  on  the  ancient  inhabitants 
of  America,  and  was  not  in  any  sense  as  Smith 
pretended,  then  it  follows  as  a  necessity,  as  a 
demonstration,  that  the  whole  structure  of 
Mormonism,  built  on  this  foundation,  is  abso- 
lutely false,  and  if  false,  from  below.  Some 
truth — Bible  truth — it  may  and  does  have  ;  but 
that  is  but  the  wool  clothing-  that  Jesus  said 
the  wolf  would  assume  for  the  purpose  of  hiding- 
his  wolf  nature.  Here,  as  far  as  substantially 


428      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

refuting-  the  system  of  Mormonism,  as  such,  I 
might  stop,  and  say,  The  work  is  done.  Hav- 
ing- taken  away  the  very  foundation  on  which  the 
false  superstructure  rests,  I.  might  say,  as  was 
said  of  Babylon,  "It  is  fallen."  But  Smith, 
at  this  point  of  Mormonism,  is  yet  on  life's 
stage,  and  what  is  necessary  and  all  that  is 
necessary  for  a  spiritually  enlightened  mind,  is 
to  look  to  the  stream  which  may  flow  from  a 
corrupt  fountain  and  he  will  ever  find  the  stream 
corrupt.  ' '  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them. ' ' 
Look  to  the  fruits  which  grow  on  the  Joseph 
Smith  tree — his  religious  system.  "An  evil 
tree  cannot  bring  forth  good  fruit;"  "Neither 
can  a  good  tree  bring  forth  evil  fruit." 

It  is  thought  by  some  able  writers  who  have 
investigated  Mormonism  critically,  that  Smith 
was  not  the  real  reconstructor  of  the  Spalding 
book,  but  that  the  job  of  reconstruction  was 
done  by  Sidney  Rigdon,  and  handed  over  to 
Smith  (the  money-digger  and  prophet),  to  work 
off  as  if  dug  up  out  of  the  grpund.  I  will  give 
the  reader — the  investigator — the  reason,  or 
proof,  why  it  is  supposed  that  Rigdon  may 
have  been  the  person  who  remodeled  the  Spald- 


Origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  429 

ing1  manuscript,  giving  it  the  religious  cast,  as 
found  in  the  Book  of  Mormon. 

One  thing  is  sure>  the  Spalding  book  was  re- 
modeled by  some  person,  or  persons,  and  made 
what  the  Book  of  Mormon  now  is  ;  and  whether 
it  was  Smith  in  connection  with  Harris  and 
Cowdery,  or  Sidney  Rigdon,  I  leave  the  readers 
to  judge  for  themselves. 

I  give  the  following  from  D.  P.  Kidder's 
"Mormonism  and  the  Mormons"  : 

"The  reader  will  now  desire  to  know  by  what 
process  the  'Manuscript  Found'  came  into  the 
hands  of  Rigdon,  and  after  having  been  reno- 
vated, interpolated,  and  rigged  out  to  suit  his 
plan,  was  transferred  to  the,  hands  of  a  noted 
money-digger  at  a  distance  from  the  place 
where  it  was  designed  more  especially  to  op- 
erate, in  order  to  be  'got  up'  in  a  miraculous 
manner.  The  latter  part  of  this  process,  viz., 
the  transfer,  was  so  easy  and  practicable  that 
any  one  may  comprehend  it  by  a  moment's  re- 
flection, although  not  demonstrated  by  positive 
evidence.  We  think,  moreover,  that  the  for- 
mer part  is  made  very  clear  by  the  facts  which 
Mr.  Howe  has  collected. 


430      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

"In  order  to  ascertain  what  disposition  Spald- 
ing  made  of  his  manuscripts,  Mr.  Howe  sent  a 
messenger  to  look  up  Spalding's  widow,  who 
still  survived.  From  her  it  was  ascertained 
that  the  family,  after  removing*  from  Ohio,  re- 
sided about  two  years  in  Pittsburgh,  and  sub- 
sequently went  to  Amity,  Pa.,  where  the  au- 
thor died  in  1816.  His  widow  then  moved  to 
Onondaga  County,  N.  Y.,  married  again,  sub- 
sequently lived  in  Otsego  County,  and  thence 
removed  to  Massachusetts,  where  she  was 
found. 

* '  She  stated  that  Spalding  had  a  great  variety 
of  manuscripts,  one  of  which  she  recollected 
was  entitled,  the/ Manuscript  Found.'  While 
they  lived  in  Pittsburgh,  it  was  taken,  she  be- 
lieved, to  the  printing  office  of  Patterson  & 
Ivambdon,  but  whether  it  was  ever  brought 
back  to  the  house  again,  she  was  quite  uncertain. 
If  it  was,  however,  it  must  still  be  in  a  trunk 
with  his  other  writings,  which  she  had  left  in 
Otsego  County,  N.  Y. 

"  The  trunk  referred  to  by  the  widow  was 
subsequently  examined,  and  found  to  contain 
only  a  single  manuscript  book,  in  Spalding's 


Origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  431 

handwriting-,  containing-  about  one  quire  of 
paper.  This  was  a  romance  purporting-  to  be 
translated  from  the  Latin. 

"Recourse  was  now  had  to  the  firm  of  Pat- 
terson &  Lambdon,  in  Pittsburg-h,  but  here 
death  had  interposed  a  barrier  to  full  inquiry. 
That  establishment  was  dissolved  and  broken 
up  many  years  since,  and  Lambdon  died  about 
eig-ht  years  ag-o.  Mr.  Patterson  said  he  had 
no  recollection  of  any  such  manuscript  being- 
brought  there  for  publication.  Neither  would 
he  have  been  likely  to  have  seen  it,  as  the  busi- 
ness of  printing-  was  conducted  by  Lambdon 
wholly  at  that  time.  He  said,  however,  that 
many  manuscript  books  and  pamphlets  were 
broug-ht  to  the  office  about  that  time,  which  re- 
mained upon  the  shelves  for  years,  without 
being-  printed  or  examined.  Now,  as  Spald- 
ing-'s  book  can  nowhere  be  found,  or  anything* 
heard  of  it  after  being-  carried  to  this  estab- 
lishment, there  is  the  strong-est  presumption 
that  it  remained  there  in  seclusion  until  about 
the  year  1823,  or  1824,  at  which  time  Sidney 
Rig-don  located  in  that  city.  We  have  been 
credibly  informed  that  he  was  on  intimate  terms 


432      Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

with  Lambdon,  being  seen  frequently  in  his 
shop.  Rigdon  resided  in  Pittsburgh  about 
three  years,  and  during1  the  whole  of  that  time, 
as  he  has  since  frequently  asserted,  abandoned 
preaching  and  all  other  employment  for  the  pur- 
pose of  studying'  the  Bible.  He  left  there,  and 
came  into  Geauga  County,  O.,  about  the  time 
that  Lambdon  died,  and  commenced  preaching 
some  new  points  of  doctrine,  which  were  after- 
ward found  to  be  inculcated  in  the  Mormon 
Bible.  He  resided  in  this  vicinity  about  four 
years  previous  to  the  appearance  of  the  Book, 
during  which  he  made  several  long  visits  to 
Pittsburgh,  and  perhaps  to  the  Susquehanna, 
where  Smith  was  then  digging  for  money,  or 
pretending  to  be  translating  plates.  It  may  be 
observed,  also,  that  about  the  time  Rigdon  left 
Pittsburgh,  the  Smith  family  began  to  tell 
about  finding  a  book  that  would  contain  a  his- 
tory of  the  first  inhabitants  of  America,  and 
that  two  years  elapsed  before  they  finally  got 
possession  of  it. 

"We  are  then  irresistibly  led  to  this  conclu- 
sion, that  Lambdon,  after  having  failed  in  busi- 
ness, had  recourse  to  the  old  manuscripts  then 


Origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  433 

in  his  possession,  in  order  to  raise  funds  by  a 
book  speculation,  and  placed  the  '  Manuscript 
Found'  of  Spalding-  in  the  hands  of  Rig-don  to 
be  embellished,  altered  and  added  to,  as  he 
might  think  expedient ;  and  thre^  years'  study 
of  the  Bible  we  should  deem  little  time  enough 
to  garble  it  as  it  is  transferred  to  the  Mormon 
book.  Lambdon  dying,  left  the  latter  (Rigdon) 
the  sole  proprietor  of  the  book,  who  was 
obliged  to  resort  to  his  wits,  and  in  a  miracu- 
lous way  -to  bring  it  before  the  world,  for  in 
no  other  way  could  such  a  book  be  published 
without  great  loss.  And  where  could  a  more 
suitable  character  be  found  than  Joseph  Smith, 
whose  necromantic  fame  and  arts  of  deception 
had  already  extended  to  a  considerable  distance? 
That  Lambdon  was  a  person  every  way  quali- 
fied and  fitted  for  such  a  business  we  have  the 
testimony  of  his  partner  in  business  and  others 
of  his  acquaintance.  The  whole  mystery  of 
this  affair  is  solved  by  adding  to  these  circum- 
stances the  facts  that  Rigdon  had  prepared  the 
minds,  in  a  great  measure,  of  nearly  a  hundred 
of  those  who  had  attended  his  ministration  to 

be  in  readiness  to  embrace  the  first  mysterious 

28 


434      Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

ism  that  should  be  presented ;  the  appearance 
of  Cowdery  at  his  residence  as  soon  as  the  book 
was  printed ;  his  sudden  conversion  after  many 
pretensions  to  disbelieve  it ;  his  immediate  re- 
pairing- to  the  residence  of  Smith,  three  hun- 
dred miles  distant,  where  he  was  forthwith  ap- 
pointed an  elder,  hig-h  priest,  and  scribe  to 
the  prophet ;  the  pretended  vision  that  his  res- 
idence in  Ohio  was  the  'promised land,'  and  the 
immediate  removal  of  the  whole  of  the  Smith 
family  thither,  where  they  were  soon  raised 
from  a  state  of  poverty  to  comparative  afflu- 
ence." 

I  have  furnished  such  proof  as  the  above, 
from  which  some  investigators  of  Mormonism 
draw  conclusions  that  Rig-don  was  the  one  who 
reconstructed  the  Spalding-  book  into  the  Book 
of  Mormon.  To  me,  all  considered,  I  am  in- 
clined to  the  same  thought.  Rig-don'^s  g"oing- 
to  Pittsburgh  at  the  time  he  did,  having-  free 
access  to  the  printing-  office  where  the  Spalding- 
manuscript  had  been  sent,  and  where  it  re- 
mained long-  after  the  printing-  firm  failed,  g-ave 
Rig-don  the  very  best  opportunity  to  come  in 
possession  of  it.  Added  to  this,  Rig-don's  stay 


Origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  435 

in  Pittsburgh  some  three  years,  in  almost  ab- 
solute seclusion,  in  the  pretended  study  of  the 
Bible,  and  his  returning-  to  Ohio  and  preaching- 
new  and  strange  doctrines,  found  afterwards 
to  be  contained  in  the  Book  of  Mormon,  show 
very  forcibly  that  he  had  something  to  do  with 
the  transferring  of  the  Spalding  "Manuscript 
Found"  into  the  Book  of  Mormon.  But  this 
point  matters  but  little.  Rigdon  is  not  just 
now  on  trial ;  it  is  Smith,  and  Smith's  claims  as 
to  the  divine  origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon, 
that  we  are  inquiring  into  just  now.  Smith, 
without  any  doubt,  furnished  the  world  with  the 
Book  of  Mormon  ;  and  the  foregoing  witnesses 
prove  conclusively  that  the  Spalding  manuscript 
was  the  foundation  and  basis  on  which  it  was 
constructed,  and  not  by  any  means  on  the  golden 
plate  pretension.  This  being  the  case,  it  proves 
on  Smith  his  profound,  wicked  deception  at  the 
very  outset  of  his  religious  undertaking ;  and 
the  fact  of  Smith's  wicked  deception  in., rela- 
tion to  the  origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  proves 
conclusively  that  he  was  strictly  entitled  to  the 
standing  and  character  the  foregoing  seventy- 
five  witnesses  accord  to  him.  This  being-  true, 


436      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

it  follows  that  in  no  sense  could  he  be  the  choice 
of  God,  as  one  of  God's  elect,  to  make  known 
to  and  lead  the  human  family  in  the  ways  of 
righteousness,  as  he  would  set  himself  up  be- 
fore the  world  to  be.  Hence,  we  can  but  accord 
to  him  the  unfortunate  title  of  a  profound  re- 
ligious deceiver.  This  should,  and  will,  to 
every  careful,  observing*  mind,  settle  the.  matter 
as  to  the  truth  or  fallacy  of  Mormonism  as  a 
system  of  religion. 

But  I  propose  to  trace  the  subsequent  career 
of  Smith,  in  connection  with  Harris,  Cowdery, 
Rigdon,  and  many  others,  until  we  find  in  the 
midst  of  his  highest  positions  attained,  he  for- 
feits his  life  to  a  misdirected  course  ;  and  using 
one  of  his  own  statements,  "The  envy  and 
wrath  of  man  have  been  my  common  lot  all 
the  days  of  my  life,  and  for  what  cause  it 
seems  mysterious,  unless  I  was  ordained  from 
before  the  foundation  of  the  world  for  some 
good  or  bad  end,  as  you  may  choose  to  call  it. 
Judge  ye  for  yourselves.  God  knoweth  all 
things,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad."  D.  &  C., 
page  316.  It  would  appear  at  this  point  of  his 
life  (and  this  was  just  before  he  was  killed), 


Origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  437 

that  he  felt  he  was  a  child  of  destiny,  and  he 
knew  not  whether  it  was  for  good  or  bad.  I 
can  but  account  him  an  unfortunate  but  chosen 
child  of  destiny,  by  whom  a  delusive,  false  sys- 
tem of  religion  should  be  set  up  in  the  world. 
There  is  in  the  world  a  system  or  principle  of 
true  religion— man's  true  relation  to  his  God 
and  his  fellow.  B.ut  there  is  just  as  surely  a 
false  religion  in  the  world,  predicted  by  Jesus 
Christ  and  his  apostles.  One  is  of  God — pure 
and  spiritual ;  the  other  is  of  the  devil — im- 
pure, earthly,  carnal,  sensual.  Jesus  has  said, 
"Beware  of  false  prophets,  which  come  to  you 
in  sheep's  clothing,  but  inwardly  they  are  rav- 
ening wolves." 

My  object  in  investigating  Mormonism  is  to 
show  my  fellow  mortal  that  it  is  one  of  the  un- 
fortunate, ungodly  religious  systems  of  our 
day,  and  would  say  to  the  reader,  Beware  of  it. 

The  truth  or  fallacy  of  Joseph  Smith  and  his 
religious  claims  turns  on  his  real  character  and 
on  the  Book  of  Mormon.  The  substantial 
proof  we  have  set  forth  by  seventy-five  wit- 
nesses, should  and  does  settle  the  first — his  real 
character  ;  and  the  eight  witnesses  clearly  prove 


438      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

that  the  foundation  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  was 
Solomon  Spalding's  "Manuscript  Found." 
This  should  forever  settle  the  second — Smith's 
claim  as  to  the  origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon. 
This  done,  we  might  close  the  investigation  as 
far  as  the  truth  or  fallacy  of  Smith  and  his  di- 
vine religious  claims  are  concerned ;  but  we 
propose  to  show  more  fully  the  subsequent  de- 
velopments of  his  undertakings,  that  by  so 
doing  we  may  show  from  first  to  last  his  whole 
course  was  that  of  a  delusive,  wicked,  selfish 
impostor. 

I  have  all  through  life  looked  upon  romance 
and  novels  as  injurious  to  the  reader  of  such. 
Fiction  has  too  much  of  the  ideal  and  not  suffi- 
cient of  the  real.  Life  is  a  stern  reality,  and 
the  more  we  become  acquainted  with  real  life 
and  facts  the  more  we  are  prepared  to  grapple 
with  and  make  the  best  of  life.  Much  of  the 
failure  in  human  life  arises  from  acting  too 
much  on  the  ideal  and  to  little  on  the  real.  But 
I  can,  in  a  measure,  pass  by  fiction  and  romance, 
written  and  put  out  on  the  world  on  the  less 
important  things  that  pertain  to  human  life. 
But  when  a  person  would  resort  to  all  that 


Origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  439 

would  be  sacred  and  divine,  and  offer  to  the 
human  family  a  book  like  that  of  the  Book  of 
Mormon,  and  claim  for  it  the  most  divine  ori- 
gin, and  sacred  claims  'for  its  nature  and  con- 
tents, as  Smith  and  his  Book  of  Mormon  would 
set  forth,  it  does  seem,  to  the  writer  at  least, 
that  Smith  has  secured  to  himself  the  very 
climax  of  sacrilege,  and  has  transcended  any 
and  everything*  that  may  have  gone  before  him 
in  using  the  divine  for  the  purpose  of  selfish 
gain  and  the  gratification  of  an  inordinate  am- 
bition. His  claims  for  the  divine  origin  and 
contents  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  are  of  the  very 
highest  and  most  sacred  kind,  and  if  true, 
would  make  him  one  of  God's  most  special  and 
choice  elect,  chosen  for  the  purpose  of  intro- 
ducing the  very  highest  of  God's  favors  to  the 
world  of  mankind ;  and  if  untrue,  would  make 
him  the  most  wicked  deceiver  known  in  the  his- 
tory of  man. 

The  writer  having  been  one  of  those  betrayed 
into  the  Mormon  system,  and  having  learned  by 
personal  experience  what  the  working  of  the 
system  is,  and  having  made  the  history  of  Mor- 
monism  a  special  study  for  forty  years,  has 


440      Mbrmohisin  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

come  to  the  fixed  conclusion  that  Joseph  Smith 
is  the  latter,  namely,  the  most  wicked  deceiver 
known  to  man. 

Claiming-,  as  Smith  does,  that  he  has  talked 
with  angels,  God's  special  messengers,  and  by 
means  of  angels  he  was  shown  where  the  golden 
plates  were  deposited,  and  by  angels  was  di- 
rected to  dig  them  up  and  ^preserve  them,  and 
by  the  direct  power  of  God  he  was  enabled  to 
puc  their  contents  into  the  English  language, 
or  translate  them,  I  here  repeat,  that  the  claims 
which  Smith  has  set  up  for  the  origin  of  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  and  the  nature  of  the  con- 
tents of  the  book,  necessarily  make  him  the 
most  favored  agent  of  God,  or  the  most  com- 
plete agent  of  Satan. 

The  subject-matter  of  the  Book  of  Mormon 
claims  to  be  all  divinely  inspired,  and  though 
most  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  claims  to  date  be- 
fore the  New  Testament,  from  six  down  to  one 
hundred  years,  yet  it  is  made  by  Smith  to  quote 
New  Testament  language,  word  for  word,  hun- 
dreds of  years  before  the  New  Testament  was 
in  existence.  Any  one  examining  the  Book  of 
Mormon  will  see  at  once  (admitting  that  Smith 


Origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  441 

is  its  author),  that  Smith  is  putting-  New  Tes- 
tament language  into  his  fictitious  prophets' 
mouths  some  one  to  six  hundred  years  before 
the  days  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  before  the  New 
Testament  had  an  existence,  showing  clearly 
and  distinctly  that  the  contents  of  the  would- 
be  divine  Book  of  Mormon  is  a  pure  fraud  on 
the  part  of  Smith.  I  ask  any  and  every  sin- 
cere believer  in  Mormonism  to  examine  his 
Golden  Bible  (Book  of  Mormon),  and  see  for 
himself  the  frequent  quotations  that  Smith  has 
in  his  book  from  the  New  Testament,  many 
hundreds  of  years  before  the  days  of  Christ, 
or  before  the  New  Testament  was  written. 
And  this  should  be  sufficient  proof  that  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  as  well  as  its  author,  Joseph 
Smith,  is  one  grand,  supreme  fraud.  I  would 
say  in  this  connection,  that  the  history  of  the 
subject-matter  contained  in  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon claims  to  set  in  six  hundred  years  before 
Christ.  Smith,  failing  to  see  his  blunder  in 
quoting  during  this  six  hundred  years  New 
Testament  language,  gives  himself  and  his 
book  away,  and  shows  conclusively  that  he  did 
not  translate  it  from  ancient  plates,  but  that  it 


442      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

was  in  part  at  least,    the  product  of,    and   the 
dictation  and  suggestion  of  his  own  mind. 

Lehi  and  Nephi,  his  son,  who  are  the  chief 
heroes  in  the  Book  of  Mormon,  claim  to  leave 
Jerusalem  six  hundred  years  before  Christ. 
They  go  into  the  wilderness,  and  we  have  men- 
tion of  the  Red  Sea.  This  shows  us  in  which 
direction  they  had  gone,  for  we  have  these  two 
points  geographically  stated.  But  these  two 
points  are  the  only  two  in  the  Book  of  Mormon 
that  can  be  geographically  determined.  It  is 
stated  in  the  book  that  they  left  the  Red  Sea, 
and  traveled  many  days  east.  Agfain,  it  says 
they  traveled  many  days  in  the  same  direction 
— east.  Now,  let  the  reader  take  up  his  map 
and  gx>  east  from  the  Red  Sea  in  Egypt,  and 
see  where  it  will  land  him.  If  he  leaves  the 
Red  Sea  near  its  northern  point,  and  g*oes  east, 
it  will  land  him  in  the  Arabian  desert,  and 
which  is  the  very  opposite  direction  of  the  At- 
lantic Ocean  and  America — "the  promised  land. ' ' 
But  let  the  reader  start  midway  from  the  Red 
Sea,  east,  or  from  the  southern  point  of  the  Red 
Sea,  east,  and  see  where  he  will  land.  When 
he  strikes  "  the  big  waters  or  sea,"  it  will  not 


Origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  443 

be  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  but  will  find  himself  on 
the  western  shores  of  the  Arabian  Sea — the 
very  opposite  direction  of  America,  unless  he 
wishes  to  go  by  way  of  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
the  most  southern  part  of  Africa,  or  go  east  by 
way  of  China.  But  such  are  the  contents  of 
this  wonderful,  pretended  inspired  Book  of 
Mormon ;  that  after  Lehi  and  his  son  Nephi, 
and  their  company,  leave  the  Red  Sea,  going- 
east,  in  their  history  purporting  to  be  about 
one  thousand  years,  there  is  not  one  solitary 
mention  of  any  geographical  point  of  the  com- 
pass, or  local  point  they  are  at,  only  ''the  prom- 
ised land,"  and  which  is  said  by  Smith  to  be 
America. 

Such  is  the  Book  of  Mormon,  with  all  the 
divinely  inspired  claims  of  Smith  thrown  around 
it,  and  which  the  world  of  mankind  must  ac- 
cept as  divine  and  from  God,  or  be  condemned 
to  endless  misery. 

To  prove  Smith  a  true  prophet  of  God,  ac- 
cording to  his  own  claims,  would  be  to  prove 
the  most  dreadful  calamity  that  could  befall  the 
human  family — endless  misery.  But  to  prove 
him  a  false  prophet  would  be  to  release  those 


444      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

from  the  thraldom — the  web  of  Mormonism— 
in  which  unfortunately  they  have  become  en- 
tangled. The  writer  feels  truly  thankful  to 
God  for  the  light  of  truth  that  led  to  his  own 
release. 

The  reader  can  only  learn  the  profound  ab- 
surdity of  the  Book  of  Mormon  by  reading  and 
studying  it  for  himself.  When  connected  with 
the  Mormon  church,  I  was  unable  to  read  and 
study  the  Book  of  Mormon  through  on  account 
of  its  glaring  absurdities ;  and  yet,  like  the 
Koran  of  the  Mohammedans,  good  morals,  ab- 
stractly considered,  may  be  gathered  from  it. 
But  it  must  needs  be  that  the  false  prophets 
come  in  sheep's  clothing*,  but  **  inwardly  they 
are  ravening  wolves."  Of  late  I  have  exam- 
ined the  book  of  Mormon  through,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  knowing  whereof  I  speak  with  regard 
to  it.  The  sooner  the  world  thoroughly  and 
truly  understands  Mormonism,  the  better  and 
more  safe  will  it  be  for  every  one  who  may  come 
in  contact  with  them. 

Such  were  the  claims  set  up  by  Joseph  Smith. 
Such  were  his  pretensions  that  he  was  neces- 
sarily the  best  or  worst  man  in  the  day  and  ag*e 


Origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  445 

in  which  he  lived.  His  claims  respecting-  the 
origin  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  and  its  contents 
necessarily  and  logically  demonstrate  this  prop- 
osition. I  have  been  inclined  to  lead  the  reader 
through  the  book,  and  call  his  attention  to  the 
many  parts  which  carry  the  force  of  self-refu- 
tation ;  but  a  book  of  some  five  hundred  and 
sixty  three  pages  of  very  small  type  matter 
would  be  too  much  for  the  writer  or  the  reader. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

WITNESSES     TO    THE    BOOK    OF    MORMON    EX- 
AMINED AND  TESTED. 

1  SHALL  now  introduce  the  three  witnesses 
who  have  left  their  names  as  having*  seen 
the  plates  from  which  the  Book  of  Mormon  was 
claimed  to  be  translated.  They  were  Oliver 
Cowdery,  David  Whitmer  and  Martin  Harris. 
These  three  witnesses  and  their  peculiar  testi- 
mony are  intended  to  establish  and  settle 
Smith's  claims  for  the  divine  authenticity  of  the 
Book  of  Mormon  ;  and  as  this  is  one  of  the 
principal  points  on  which  the  truth  or  fallacy 
of  Mormonism  turns,  I  shall  be  the  more  par- 
ticular to  consider  the  character  and  standing- 
of  the  witnesses  themselves,  as  well  as  their 
testimony.  The  following-  is  their  testimony 
as  subscribed  to,  as  found  in  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon : 

"Be    it   known    unto    all    nations,    kindred, 
tong-ues,  and  people  unto  whom  this  work  shall 
come,  that  we,   through  the  grace  of  God  the 
(446) 


Witnesses  Examined  and  Tested.  447 

Father,  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  have  seen 
the  plates  which  contain  this  record,  which  is 
a  record  of  Nephi,  and  also  of  the  Lamanites, 
their  brethren,  and  also  of  the  people  of  Tared, 
who  came  from  the  tower  of  which  hath  been 
spoken  ;  and  we  also  know  that  they  have  been 
translated  by  the  gift  and  power  of  God,  for 
his  voice  hath  declared  it  unto  us ;  wherefore 
we  know  of  a  surety  that  the  work  is  true. 
And  we  also  testify  that  we  have  seen  the  en- 
gravings which  are  upon  the  plates,  and  they 
have  been  shown  unto  us  by  the  power  of  God, 
and  not  of  man.  And  we  declare  with  words 
of  soberness,  that  an  angel  of  God  came  down 
from  heaven,  and  he  brought  and  laid  before 
our  eyes,  that  we  beheld  and  saw  the  plates, 
and  the  engravings  thereon  ;  and  we  know  that 
it  is  by  the  grace  of  God  the  Father  and  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  that  we  beheld  and  bear  rec- 
ord that  these  things  are  true ;  and  it  is  mar- 
velous in  our  eyes ;  nevertheless  the  voice  of 
the  Lord  commanded  us  that  we  should  bear 
record  of  it.  Wherefore,  to  be  obedient  unto 
the  commandments  of  God,  we  bear  testimony 
of  these  things.  And  we  know,  if  we  are 


448      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

faithful  in  Christ,  we  shall  rid  our  garments  of 
the  blood  of  all  men,  and  be  found  spotless  be- 
fore the  judgment  seat  of  Christ,  and  shall 
dwell  with  him  eternally  in  the  heavens.  And 
the  honor  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and 
to  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  one  God.  Amen. 

"OLIVER  COWDERY, 
"DAVID  WHITMER, 
"MARTIN  HARRIS." 

It  was  necessary  that  Smith,  for  his  own 
safety  at  the  time  and  under  the  circumstances, 
when  he  was  translating"  or  remodeling1  the 
Spalding-  "Manuscript  Found,"  should  have 
these  three  witnesses  to  bolster  up  and 
strengthen  his  own  claims ;  for  it  is  evident 
that  when  he  claims  to  be  translating",  Harris 
and  Cowdery  both  doubted  his  having*  any 
plates,  and  caused  Smith  much  trouble  from 
the  very  commencement  of  his  pretended  trans- 
lation. I  s^hall  show  this  point  by  their  own 
testimony. 

I  notice  that  Smith  stretches  his  Book  of 
Mormon  and  makes  the  book  of  Ether,  by  the 
mouth  of  the  prophet  Moroni  say :  "And  in  the 
mouth  of  three  witnesses  shall  these  thing's  be 


Witnesses  Examined  and  Tested.  449 

established  ;  and  the  testimony  of  three,  and 
this  work,  in  the  which  shall  be  shown  forth 
the  power  of  God,  and  also  his  word,  of  which 
the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost 
beareth  record ;  and  all  this  shall  stand  as  a 
testimony  against  the  world  at  the  last  day. ' ' 
Book  of  Ether,  chapter  2,  in  Book  of  Mormon. 
To  prove  that  Smith's  life  was  in  danger 
when  he  was  pretending  to  translate,  I  give 
his  own  testimony.  In  a  pretended  revelation 
given  direct  from  God  to  Smith  and  Harris, 
February,  1829,  in  D.  and  C.,  pages  172,  173, 
174,  and  175,  we  have  the  following  :  "Behold, 
I  say  unto  you  my  servant  Martin  Harris  has 
desired  a  witness  at  my  hand  that  you,  my 
servant  Joseph  Smith,  Jr.,  have  got  the  plates 
of  which  you  have  testified  and  borne  record 
that  you  have  received  of  me ;  and  now,  behold 
this  shall  you  say  unto  him  ....  that 
you  should  not  show  them  except  to  those 

persons  to  whom  I  command  you 

Behold,  if  they  will  not  believe  my  words,  they 
would  not  believe  you,  my  servant  Joseph,  if  it 
were  possible  that  you  could  show  them  all 

these  things  which   I  have  committed  to  you. 
29 


450      Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

O  this  unbelieving-  and  stiff-necked  generation ! 

Mine  anger  is  kindled  against  them 

And  I,  the  Lord,  command  him,  my  servant 
Martin  Harris,  that  he  shall  say  no  more  con- 
cerning these  things,  except  he  shall  say,  I  have 
seen  them,  and  they  have  been  shown  to  me  by 
the  power  of  God ;  but  if  he  deny  this,  he  will 
break  the  covenant  which  he  has  before  cov- 
enanted with  me,  and  behold  he  is  condemned. 
And  now,  except  he  humble  himself  and  ac- 
knowledge unto  me  the  things  he  has  done 
which  are  wrong,  and  covenant  with  me  that 
he  will  keep  my  commandments,  and  exercise 
faith  in  me,  behold  I  say  unto  him,  he  shall 
have  no  such  views,  for  I  will  grant  unto  him 
no  views  of  ihe  things  of  which  I  have  spoken. 
And  if  this  be  the  case,  I  command  you,  my 
servant  Joseph,  that  you  shall  say  unto  him, 
that  he  shall  do  no  more,  nor  trouble  me  more 

concerning  this  matter And  now, 

because  I  see  the  lying  in  wait  to  destroy  thce, 
yea,  I  foresee  that  if  my  servant  Martin  Harris 
humbleth  not  himself,  and  receive  a  witness 
from  my  hand,  that  he  will  fall  into  transgres- 
sion, and  there  are  many  that  lie  in  wait  to 


Witnesses  Examined  and  Tested.  451 

destroy  thee  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth. 
.  .  .  .  For  this  cause  I  have  said  stop,  and 
stand  still  until  I  command  thee,  and  I  will 
provide  means  whereby  thou  mayest  accom- 
plish the  thing-  I  have  commanded  thee." 

I  quote  from  another  of  Smith's  pretended 
revelations,  part  of  which  relates  to  Martin 
Harris  seeking-  to  destroy  Smith  while  pretend- 
ing- to  translate.  Book  of  D.  and  C.,  pag-es 
178  and  179 : 

"Now,  behold,  I  say  unto  you,  that  because 
you  have  delivered  up  these  writing's  which  you 
had  power  g-iven  unto  you  to  translate,  by  means 
of  the  Urim  and  Thummim,  into  the  hands  of  a 
wicked  man,  you  have  lost  them ;  and  you  also 
lost  your  g-ift  at  the  same  time ;  nevertheless, 

it  is  restored  to  you  ag-ain Do  not 

run  faster  or  labor  more  than  you  have  streng-th 
and  means  provided  to  enable  you  to  translate. 
.  .  .  .  Behold  they  have  soug-ht  to  destroy 
you ;  yea,  even  the  man  in  whom  you  have 
trusted  has  soug-ht  to  destroy  you.  And  for 
this  cause  I  said  he  is  a  wicked  man,  for  he 
has  soug-ht  to  take  away  the  thing's  wherewith 
you  have  been  intrusted ;  and  he  has  also  soug-ht 


452      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

to  destroy  your  gift ;  and  because  you  have  de- 
livered the  writing's  into  his  hands,  behold, 
wicked  men  have  taken  them  from  you." 

The  reader  will  fully  understand  the  nature 
of  these  pretended  revelations  of  Smith's,  and 
the  parts  I  have  quoted  from  them,  when  I  show 
the  particular  relation  that  Harris  and  Smith 
sustained  to  each  other  in  this  Book  of  Mor- 
mon fraud.  Whatever  Smith  had  in  his  pos- 
session under  the  pretense  of  gold  plates 
(though  I  strictly  claim  it  was  Spalding's  man- 
uscript, or  said  manuscript  revised),  Harris  had 
evidently  not  been  allowed  to  see  them.  Har- 
ris, up  to  this  time,  had  furnished  the  funds, 
he  being  styled  rich.  According  to  Smith's 
father-in-law,  Mr.  Hale,  Harris  had  written 
for  Smith  116  pages  of  pretended  translated 
matter  which  Smith  should  have  dictated ;  and 
yet  Harris  had  not  been  allowed  to  see  the 
plates,  the  pretended  source  from  which  these 
116  pages  of  matter  had  been  taken.  Smith 
was  evidently  at  this  time  strictly  hiding  from 
Harris  his  pretended  golden  plates,  or  what- 
ever the  source  from  which  his  dictated  matter 
was  derived,  though  Harris  at  the  same  time 


Witnesses  Examined  and  Tested.  453 

was  furnishing-  the  funds  on  which  the  imposi- 
tion was  managed.  Smith  evidently  had  no 
Golden  Bible  as  described,  and  consequently 
could  not  possibly  show  any ;  and  after  pre- 
tending- to  have  plates,  he  did  not  dare  to  show 
the  Spalding-  "Manuscript  Pound"  to  even  his 
most  interested  and  intimate  friends.  For  my 
own  part,  all  particulars  taken  into  account,  I 
never  have  believed  that  Smith  had  any  g-olden 
plates.  His  pretense  that  ang-els  were  gfoing- 
back  and  forth  to  heaven  with  a  batch  of  g-olden 
plates  is  the  very  heig-ht  of  Smith's  pretended 
fraud.  Just  how  he  manag-ed  so  long-  to  keep 
'the  thing-  g^oing-  among-  his  most  intimate  asso- 
ciates, to  me  is  a  marvel,  and  can  only  be  ac- 
counted for  on  his  having-  direct  assistance  from 
Satan. 

Smith's  fraud  and  deception  encountered  its 
most  severe  strain  in  managing-  Harris  and 
Cowdery,  who  were  so  closely  connected  and 
associated  with  him,  and  whom  he  worked  in 
g-etting-  their  names  in  behalf  of  the  Book  of 
Mormon  being-  translated  from  plates,  as  shown 
in  their  subscription  to  the  book.  Smith  felt 
and  knew  he  must  have  additional  testimony  in 


454      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

behalf  of  his  own  claims,  or  his  life  would  be 
in  danger.  Harris  had  invested  quite  a  sum  of 
money  in  the  thing",  and  he  felt,  no  doubt,  that 
he  had  a  right  to  know  its  most  inward  work- 
ings ;  and  as  Smith's  pretended  revelations 
showed,  Harris  had  demanded  to  see  the  plates, 
and  with  others  had  threatened  Smith's  life. 
This  done,.  Smith  was  driven  to  the  extremity 
of  pretended  revelations  direct  from  God  to 
meet  his  threatened  case.  Harris  at  this  point 
had  evidently  shut  down  the  funds,  when  the 
Lord  tells  Smith  to  quit  translating  for  awhile, 
and  "I,  the  Lord,  will  furnish  means."  Mr. 
Hale,  Smith's  father-in-law,  states  that  Harris 
told  him  that  he  asked  for  greater  proof  that 
Smith  had  plates,  but  that  Smith  had  not  given 
it  to  him.  I  refer  the  reader  to  Mr.  Hale's 
testimony  as  found  above.  Smith's  life  being 
threatened  by  Harris  and  others,  he  is  careful 
to  have- three  additional  witnesses  provided  for 
in  the  Book  of  Mormon,  as  shown  above. 

I  now  call  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the 
most  critical  point  that  Smith  had  to  contend 
with,  for  he  had  made  choice  of  Harris  and 
Cowdery  as  two  of  the  witnesses  testifying 


Witnesses  Examined  and  Tested.  455 

that  the  Book  of  Mormon  was  translated  from 
plates.  A  careful  examination  of  Smith's  rev- 
elations to  these  two  men  will  show  that  they 
actually  never  saw  (in  the  ocular  sense)  any 
plates.  This  may  be  seen  by  the  nature  of 
Smith's  revelations  to  them.  Smith  always  re- 
sorted to  direct  revelations  to  extricate  himself 
from  difficult  places.  You  will  critically  ex- 
amine the  revelation  to  Smith  respecting-  Har- 
ris, as  quoted  above.  But  as  this  involves  an 
important  point  I  will  repeat  it:  "Behold,  I 
say  unto  you,  that  as  my  servant,  Martin  Har- 
ris, has  desired  a  witness  at  my  hand  that  you, 
my  servant,  Joseph  Smith,  Jun.,  have  got  the 
plates  of  which  you  have  testified  and  borne 
record  that  you  have  received  of  me ;  and  now, 
behold,  this  shall  you  say  unto  him,  he  who 
spake  unto  you  said  unto  you,  'I,  the  L/ord,  am 
God,  and  I  have  given  these  things  unto  you, 
my  servant,  Joseph  Smith,  Jun.,  and  have  com- 
manded you  that  you  should  stand  as  a  witness 
of  these  things,  and  I  have  caused  you  that 
you  should  enter  into  a  covenant  with  me  that 
you  should  not  show  them  except  to  those  per- 
sons to  whom  I  command  you ;  and  you  have  no 


456      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

power  over  them  except  I  grant  it  to  you.  Be- 
hold, if  they  will  not  believe  my  words  [which 
are  the  words  Smith  is  now  giving1  to  Harris], 
they  would  not  believe  you,  my  servant  Joseph, . 
it  were  possible  that  you  could  show  all  these 
thing's  which  I  have  committed  unto  you.'  "• 

I  ask  what  does  the  above  prove  ?  It  proves 
that  Smith's  testimony  is  the  highest  and  only 
proof  that  Harris  can  or  shall  have,  and  that 
if  Harris  will  not  believe  Smith's  word,  he 
would  not  believe  if  the  plates  were  possibly 
shown  to  him.  The  reader  here  can  readily  see 
that  Smith  is  pretending  to  receive  a  revelation 
from  God,  to  bulldoze  Harris  into  an  acknowl- 
edgment of  his  having  seen  the  plates,  when 
he  (Harris)  had  never  seen  them.  The  sequel 
will  show  Smith  evidently  did  so  bulldoze  Har- 
ris and  Cowdery  both  to  say  that  they  had  seen 
the  plates,  when  they  never  had  in  fact  seen 
them.  But  this  same  pretended  revelation  is 
still  more  clear,  that  Harris  shall  testify  to  hav- 
ing seen  the  plates,  when  such  had  never  been 
the  fact.  "And  I,  the  Lord,  command  him,  my 
servant  Martin  Harris,  that  he  S;hall  say  no 
more  concerning  these  things,  except  he  shall 


Witnesses  Examined  and  Tested.  457 

say,  '  I  have  seen  them,  and  they  have  been 
shown  unto  me  by  the  power  of  God,'  and  these 
are  the  words  which  he  shall  say ;  but  if  he 
deny  this,  he  will  break  the  covenant  which  he 
has  before  covenanted  with  me,  and  behold  he 
is  condemned.  And  now,  except  he  humble 
himself  and  acknowledge  unto  me  the  things 
he  has  done  which  are  wrong,  and  covenant 
with  me  that  he  will  keep  my  commandments, 
and  exercise  faith  in  me,  behold  I  say  unto  him, 
he  shall  have  no  such  views,  for  I  will  grant 
unto  him  no  views  of  the  things  of  which  I  have 
spoken.  And  if  this  be  the  case,  I  command 
you,  my  servant  Joseph,  that  you  shall  say  unto 
him,  that  he  shall  say  no  more,  nor  trouble  me 
any  more  concerning  this  matter."  D.  &  C., 
page  174.  Harris  is  now  left  to  a  final  and 
finishing  choice.  He  must  do  as  Joseph  com- 
mands him,  which  is  to  say  no  more  about  see- 
ing the  plates,  except  he  shall  say  he  has  seen 
them,  and  that  they  had  been  shown  unto  him 
by  the  power  of  God.  And  I  ask  the  reader 
to  note  that  this  is  the  very  language  used  in 
the  testimony  of  the  three  witnesses  as  sub- 
scribed to  1he  Book  of  Mormon,  of  which  Har- 


458      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

ris  is  one  of  said  -witnesses.  And  these  were 
the  words  that  JEEa/ris  "shall  say  ;"  " but  if  he 
deny  this,"  or  refuse  to  keep  the  commandment 
given  him,  which  is,  to  say  he  has  seen  the 
plates  by  the  power  of  God,  he  is  to  be  con- 
demned, he  is  to  have  no  such  views  of  the 

» 

plates,  and  shall  do  no  more,  nor  trouble  Smith 
any  more  concerning'  the  matter.  This  is  the 
fact  concerning  the  whole  matter,  that  unless 
Harris  will  declare  that  he  has  seen  the  plates 
by  the  power  of  God,  before  he  has  seen  them, 
he  never  shall  see  them,  and  shall  have  no  more 
to  do  with  the  Mormon  investment ;  and  Harris 
yielded  to  Smith  on  this  point,  and  gave  his 
name  as  one  of  the  three  witnesses  as  having 
seen  the  plates,  when  in  fact  he  never  did  see 
them.  I  need  not  say  that  Harris  afterwards 
abandoned  Smith  and  Mormonism.  The  same 
means  were  used  by  Smith  on  Oliver  Cowdery, 
only  Smith's  fraud  is  much  more  apparent. 

Such  means  as  Smith  could  use  by  which 
to  accomplish  his  diabolical  purposes  look  as 
though  he  must  have  exhausted  the  skill  and 
all  the  ingenuity  of  the  lower  regions  of  perdi- 
tion ;  his  daring  attempts  and  means  used,  in 


Witnesses  Examined  and  Tested.  459 

what  many  would  esteem  sacred  things,  border 
on  miracles  wrought  by  the  power  of  Satan,  as 
spoken  of  in  the  scriptures,  where  it  is  said 
that  Satan  shall  work  '  *  lying-  wonders . ' '  Har- 
ris undoubtedly  was  a  hard  case  ;  yet,  in  the 
above  contest,  Smith  overcame  him.  The  tes- 
timony of  Harris'  brother,  in  the  presence  of 
his  (Harris')  wife,  shows  that  Harris  was  a  bad 
man.  I  refer  the  reader  to  the  testimony  of 
Abigail  Harris  against  Martin  Harris,  his  own 
brother,  in  the  presence  of  Martin  Harris'  own 
wife,  where  Martin  Harris  is  made  to  say, 
"What  if  Mormonism  is  a  lie;  if  you  will  let 
me  alone  I  will  make  money  out  of  it."  Such 
men  as  Harris  were-  able  to  play  interesting 
seconds  for  Smith,  if  the  prophet  only  could  be 
the  leader. 

I  shall  now  introduce  to  the  reader  another 
prominent  character  who  figured  conspicuously 
in  the  rise  of  Mormonism,  and  who  has  his 
name  as  one  of  the  three  witnesses  testifying  to 
the  Book  of  Mormon  being  translated  from 
plates,  according  to  Smith's  pretensions,  but 
was  imposed  upon  by  Smith  more  glaringly  and 
plainly  to  the  reader  than  was  Harris.  This 


460      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

was  Oliver  Cowdery.  Smith  was  evidently  a 
very  poor  man.  Harris,  being  a  man  of  some 
wealth,  was  a  very  necessary  factor  in  Smith's 
program.  But  Smith  also  lacked  in  point  of 
education,  and  Cowdery  was  somewhat  of  a 
scholar — a  school  teacher — and  he,  too,  was  a 
very  necessary  member  of  Smith's  new  religious 
project.  Of  the  particular  circumstances  that 
led  to  Cowdery's  contact  with  Smith  I  am  not 
advised ;  but  Cowdery  must  have  been  among 
the  first  of  Smith's  prominent  converts.  Ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Hale's  testimony,  Cowdery  came 
and  took  Harris'  place  as  scribe  to  Smith,  about 
1825  or  1826.  I  have  ever  looked  upon  Cow- 
dery, in  my  investigations  of  Mormonism,  as  a 
man  possessing  some  degree  of  honesty.  I 
think  the  reader  will  see  this  as  I  introduce 
him  in  his  intercourse  with  Smith  ;  for  Smith 
appears  to  have  made  choice  of  Cowdery  as  one 
of  the  three  witnesses  who  should  affirm  that 
the  Book  of  Mormon  was  translated  by  Smith 
from  plates  which,  by  the  power  of  God,  had 
been  shown  to  him.  I  will  now  introduce 
Smith's  struggles  and  fraud  with  Cowdery  to 
secure  his  name,  along  with  Harris,  as  a  wit- 


Witnesses  Examined  and  Tested.  461 

ness.  The  means  used  are  the  same  as  those 
so  successful  with  Harris — pretended  revela- 
tions from  God.  Cowdery,  like  many  others 
connected  with  Smith,  evidently  entertained 
many  doubts  as  to  Smith's  claims  about  plates 
and  ancient  writings.  The  following'  pretended 
revelation  through  Smith  to  Cowdery  shows 
that  Cowdery  had  wished  to  have  a  knowledge 
of  these  things  for  himself  ;  so  Smith,  as  usual, 
claims  to  receive  a  revelation  from  the  Lord 
direct  to  Cowdery.  Doctrine  and  Covenants, 
page  176,  April  1829.  "Oliver  Cowdery,  ver- 
ily, verily,  I  say  unto  you,  .  .  .  surely  shall 
you  receive  a  knowledge  concerning  the  en- 
gravings of  old  records,  which  are  ancient, 
which  contain  these  parts  of  my  scriptures, 
which  have  been  spoken  by  the  manifestation 
of  my  Spirit ;  yea,  behold,  /  will  tell  you  in 
your  mind  and  in  your  heart,  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
which  shall  come  into  you,  and  which  shall 
dwell  in  your  heart.  Bejiold  this  is  the  spirit 
of  revelation  ;  behold  this  is  the  spirit  by  which 
Moses  brought  the  children  of  Israel  through 
the  Red  Sea  on  dry  ground ;  therefore,  this  is 
thy  gift ;  apply  unto  it,  and  blessed  art  thou, 


462      Mormomsm  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

for  it  shall  deliver  you  out  of  the  hands  of  your 
enemies,  when,  if  it  were  not  so,  they  would 
slay  you  and  bring"  your  soul  to  destruction. 
Oh,  remember  these  words,  and  keep  my  com- 
mandments. Remember,  this  is  your  gift. 
.  .  .  .  And  therefore,  whatsoever  you  shall 
ask  me  to  tell  you,  by  that  means,  that  will  I 
grant  unto  you,  and  you  shall  have  knowledge 
concerning  it.  Do  not  ask  for  what  you  ought 
not ;  ask  that  you  may  know  the  mysteries  of 
God,  and  that  you  may  translate  and  receive 
knowledge  from  all  these  ancient  records  which 
have  been  laid  up,  that  are  sacred." 

Here,  in  this  pretended  revelation  from  Cow- 
dery,  Smith  gives  the  key  to  the  process  by 
which  he  develops  the  whole  Mormon  fabric. 
Cowdery  is  to  learn,  is  to  know,  whatever  is 
necessary  to  be  learned  or  known,  relating  to 
ancient  records,  to  translating,  and  whatever 
he  may  ask,  it  shall  be  made  known  to  him— 
"spoken  by  the  manifestation  of  my  Spirit, 
Yea,  behold,  /  w ill  tell  you  in  your  mind  and  in 
your  heart,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  shall 
come  upon  you  and  dwell  in  your  heart. ' '  In 
the  direction  of  Smith  to  Cowdery,  it  is  fair 


Witnesses  Examined  and  Tested.  463 

to  say  that  Smith  gave  instructions  to  Cow- 
dery  in  harmony  with  his  own  experience 
and  process,  by  which  he  pretended  to  have 
found  and  translated  the  Book  of  Mormon ; 
claiming*  for  himself  that  the  Holy  Ghost  told 
him  in  his  mind  and  in  his  heart.  For,  on  this 
principle  all  that  would  be  necessary  for  Smith 
or  Cowdery  would  be  to  persuade  themselves 
that  they  were  in  possession  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  whatever  the  dictations  of  the  workings  of 
their  own  mhids  might  be,  they  would  necessa- 
rily construe  or  attribute  it  to  divine  inspira- 
tion and  revelation.  Smith,  at  the  time  he  gave 
these  directions  and  instructions  to  Cowdery, 
under  the  pretence  of  its  being  a  direct  revela- 
tion from  God  to  Cowdery,  was  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  the  dictations  of  his  own  mis- 
guided and  selfish  mind.  The  very  principle 
Smith  has  "laid  down  and  given  to  Cowdery  as 
an  infallible  rule  and  standard,  and  on  which 
he  himself  has  acted,  shows  conclusively  that 
the  whole  structure  of  Mormonism  is  the  dic- 
tation of  his  own  peculiar  mind,  aided  by  the 
Spalding  4 '  Manuscript  Pound. ' '  There  is  not, 
nor  can  there  be,  any  bounds  to  an  evil  mind 


464      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

acting  on  the  direction  and  instruction  given  by 
Smith  to  Cowdery  in  the  pretended  revelation 
as  given  above  ;  and  yet  I  propose  to  introduce 
one  more,  which  supremely  transcends  the 
above  in  point  of  absurdity  and  fraud,  yet  is 
based  upon  the  same  general  principle — "  being* 
told  in  your  mind  and  heart" — without  relation 
to  any  of  the  five  senses. 

Cowdery  had  been  promised  that  he  should 
assist  in  translating-,  but  he  proved  too  honest 
to  make  a  success  of  it.  Smith's  first  pre- 
tended revelation  with  regard  to  Cowdery's 
translating*  was  to  the  effect  that  he  was  not  to 
be  allowed  to  translate  ;  but  Cowdery  insisting", 
Smith  g-ets  another  revelation  to  the  effect  he 
should  assist,  thoug"h  it  contradicted  the  for- 
mer. But  that  is  nothing-  for  false  prophets  to 
overcome,  who  are  always  clothed  with  contra- 
dictions as  with  a  g-arment. 

But  Oliver  Cowdery  is  gxnng-  to  try  his  hand 
on  translating-.  Smith  had  not  had  a  tutor; 
translating-  with  him  was  self-originating-. 
Cowdrey  had  made  an  attempt  at  translating-, 
and  by  some  means  had  made  a  failure.  I  have 
been  at  a  loss  to  know  the  real  particulars  of 


Witnesses  Examined  and  Tested.  465 

Cowdery's  attempt  and  failure.  I  have  always 
felt  sure  that  they  had  no  plates,  but  I  have 
wondered  if  Cowdery  had  the  good  fortune  to 
know  the  bottom  facts  of  the  origin  of  the 
Book  of  Mormon  in  the  sense  of  Spalding's 
manuscript.  If  he  did,  his  translating-  would 
simply  be  a  matter  of  reconstructing1  the  man- 
uscript to  make  it  fit  Smith's  ideas  of  the  re- 
ligion he  wished  to  establish.  Anyway,  Cow- 
dery in  his  attempt  made  a  mortifying'  failure, 
and  it  obliged  Smith  to  resort  to  his  wonted 
trick  whereby  he  settled  all  disputes  and  diffi- 
culties ;  hence  we  have  the  following : 

"Revelation  given  to  Oliver  Cowdery,  April, 
1829: 

"Behold,  I  say  unto  you,  my  son,  that  be- 
cause you  did  not  translate  according  to  that 
which  you  desired  of  me,  *  *  *  behold, 
other  records  have  I  that  I  will  give  unto  your 
power  that  you  may  assist  to  translate.  Be 
patient,  my  son,  for  it  is  wisdom  in  me,  and  it 
is  not  expedient  that  you  should  translate  at 
this  present  time.  Behold,  the  work  which 
you  are  called  to  do  is  to  write  for  my  servant 
Joseph  ;  and  behold,  it  is  because  you  did  not 
30 


466      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

continue  as  you  commenced,  when  you  began  to 
translate,  that  I  have  taken  away  the  privilege 
from  you.  Do  not  murmur,  my  son,  for  it  is 
wisdom  in  me  that  I  dealt  thus  with  you  after 
this  manner.  Behold,  you  have  not  understood  ; 
you  supposed  that  I  would  give  it  unto  you  ;  but 
behold,  I  say  unto  you,  that  you  must  study  it 
out  in  your  mind;  then  you  must  ask  me  if  it  be 
right,  and  if  it  be  right  I  will  cause  that  your 
bosom  shall  burn  within  you ;  therefore,'  you  j 
shall  feel  that  it  is  right ;  but  if  it  be  not  right  ; 
you  shall  have  no  such  feelings,  but  you  shall 
have  a  stupor  of  thought  that  shall  cause  you 
to  forg-et  the  thing-  ^vh^ch  is  wrong-;  therefore, 
you  cannot  write  that  which  is  sacred,  save  it 
be  given  you  from  me.  Now  if  you  had  known 
this  you  could  have  translated ;  nevertheless  it 
is  not  expedient  that  you  should  translate  now. 
Behold  I  have  given  unto  my  servant  Joseph  \ 
strength  whereby  it  is  made  up." 

Cowdery  having  made  a  failure  in  his  effort 
as  a  translator,  and  having  been  shown  wherein 
or  in  what  his  failure  consisted,  and  having  had   \ 
made  known  to  him  the  philosophy  of  translat- 
ing, namely,  he  must  study  it  out,  and  after  he 


Witnesses  Examined  and  Tested.  467 

had  studied  out  in  his  mind  and  when,  having* 
got  a  given  amount  of  studied  out  matter  in  his 
mind,  then  he  should  have  taken  it  to  the  Lord 
to  determine  what  might  prove  to  be  rig-lit  or 
wrong;.  After  having-  g'one  to  the  Lord  and 
asked  him  to  determine  the  rig-ht  from  the 
wrong*,  and  having"  received  a  burning*  in  his 
bosom  to  determine  the  rig-lit,  and  having  un- 
dergone a  stupor  of  thought  which  caused  him 
to  forget  whatever  part  was  wrong  ;  had  Cow- 
dery  known  all  these  peculiar  tricks  in  Smith's 
translating  process  he  might  have  been  equal  to 
Smith  himself  in  the  attempt  of  making  Mor- 
mon bibles.  Smith's  directions  and  instruc- 
tions to  Cowdery  by  means  of  pretended  reve- 
lations from  God  no  doubt  were  but  portraying 
his  own  experience  and  process  of  translating 
the  Book  of  Mormon,  and  by  which  he  received 
his  pretended  revelations,  which  at  once  clearly 
show  the  bottom  facts  whence  Mormonism  de- 
rived its  peculiar  existence — "Study  it  out." 

But  suppose  we  give  Smith  the  benefit  of  all 
his  highest  claims  with  regard  to  the  origin  of 
the  Book  of  Mormon  from  plates  revealed  to 
him,  and  that  the  Book  of  Mormon  was  as  he 


468      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

would  have  it — absolutely  translated  from 
peculiar  unknown  eng'raven  characters.  Then 
we  have  Cowdery  in  his  translating-  office. 
He  is  seated  at  his  desk.  The  g-olden  plates 
are  before  him.  He  has  not  the  slightest 
idea  what  the  engraved  characters  mean. 
He  is  honest  with  himself,  with  his  God  and 
the  world  of  mankind.  Smith  has  told  him 
that  by  the  power  of  God  he  had  translated. 
I  ask  the  reader  to  look  at  Cowdery  in  his  office 
just  going"  to  commence  translating1.  I  ask, 
would  he  not  also  expect  divine  assistance? 
And  not  having-  received  such,  would  he  not 
necessarily  ask  God  to  assist  him  ?  And  after 
he  had  prayed  once,  twice  or  three  times  and 
received  no-  help  from  God,  would  he  not  as  an 
honest  man  give  it  up,  having-  made  a  failure  in 
the  attempt?  But  Cowdery  has^g-ot  the  plates 
before  him,  and  we  hear  Smith  saying-  to  him, 
"  You  have  not  understood  ;  you  have  supposed 
the  Lord  would  g-ive  it  unto  you,  and  you  took 
no  thoug-ht  only  to  ask  the  Lord."  I  ask, 
what  could  the  simple,  honest-hearted  Cow- 
dery do  under  the  circumstances  but  ask  the 
Lord  to  assist  him  ;  and  if  the  Lord  withheld 


Witnesses  Examined  and  Tested.  469 

assistance,  what  could  he  do  but  make  a  failure 
and  quit?  But  no;  Cowdery,  you  should  have 
studied  these  unknown  characters  out  in  your 
mind  and  have  taken  the  result  of  your  studies 
to  God,  and  if  you  had  got  them  wrong*  God 
would  cause  a  stupor  of  thought  so  you  should 
forget  the  thing-  that  was  wrong".  I  ask,  if 
God  was  inspiring  the  translation  of  the  Book 
of  Mormon,  why  did  he  not  inspire  Cowdery? 
And  why  did  God  not  inspire  him  right  at  first 
rather  than  let  him  think  it  out  wrong,  and 
then  by  an  act  of  divine  power  cause  him  to  for- 
get it?  Why  did  not  divine  power  cause  it  to 
be  right  at  first,  so  Cowdery  might  have  been 
saved  the  time  and  trouble  of  getting  it  into 
his  mind  wrong,  and  then  the  Almighty  God 
have  to  work  a  miracle  to  obliterate  it  ? 

These  are  but  a  few  of  the  absurdities  of 
Joseph  Smith's  Mormon  religion.  Just  how 
Smith  ever  secured  Cowdery's  name  as  one  of 
the  three  witnesses  to  the  Book  of  Mormon,  be- 
ing translated  from  the  plates,  is  more  than  I 
am  able  to  conjecture,  unless  it  was  as  stated 
above:  "  Behold,  I  will  tell  you  in  your  mind 
and  in  your  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  which 


470      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

shall  come  upon  you,  and  which  shall  dwell  in 
your  heart." 

Harris  and  Cowdery,  being-  two  of  the  three 
witnesses  testifying  that  they  had  seen  the 
plates,  the  reader  will  realize  how  or  by  what 
means  their  names  were  secured.  Smith  hav- 
ing secured  Harris's  and  Cowdery's  names  to 
brace  up  his  own  claim  by  the  peculiar  fore- 
going means,  I  wonder  not  at  his  securing 
other  names  of  persons  who  were  less  acquainted 
with  the  facts  and  who  would  be  more  easily 
influenced  by  his  seductive  ways  and  means. 

But  I  propose  here  to  introduce  the  nature  of 
the  testimony  as  subscribed  to  the  Book  of 
Mormon,  and  show  that  these  witnesses  could 
not  have  a  knowledge  of  the  thing's  whereof 
they  affirm.  These  witnesses  say,  "By  the 
grace  of  God,  the  Father,  and  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  we  have  seen  the  plates  which  con- 
tain this  record."  Now  for  these  witnesses  to 
intelligently  and  knowingly  testify  to  this  part, 
namely :  they  saw  the  plates  which  contained 
the  Book  of  Mormon,  it  would  be  necessary  for 
them  to  be  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  sub- 
ject matter  of  the  plates  as  well  as  to  have  a 


Witnesses  Examined  and  Tested.  471 

perfect  knowledge  of  the  contents  of  the  Book 
of  Mormon  claiming'  to  have  been  taken  from 
said  plates.  This  I  aver  they  did  not,  could 
not,  have.  Hence,  they  affirm  what  they  could 
not  and  did  not  know,  which  make  their  testi- 
mony strictly  worthless  in  the  case. 

They  next  affirm  that  "We  know  the  Book 
of  Mormon  was  translated  by  the  gift  and 
power  of  God,  and  that  the  voice  of  God  has 
declared  it  to  us."  They  claim  to  have 
"heard  a  voice,  and  that  the  voice  was 
the  voice  of  God."  Should  these  witnesses 
have  "heard  a  voice,"  they  could  not  know  it 
was  the  voice  of  God,  unless  they  had  actually 
seen  him  ;  and  if  I  concede  that  they  saw  a  per- 
sonage, how  could  they  know  it  was  God  and 
not  some  other  divine  being?  Or  how  could 
they  know  that  it  was  not  Satan  appearing  as 
an  angel  of  light?  Hence,  I  aver  they  testify 
to  what  they  'did  not,  could  not,  know ;  and 
this  part  of  their  testimony  does  not  affect  their 
case. 

These  witnesses  say  "We  know  surely 
that  the  Book  of  Mormon  is  true."  This  these 
witnesses  cannot  know  unless  they  are  per- 


472      Mofinonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

fectly 'acquainted  with  the  book  and  know  all 
the  facts  to  which  the  subject  matter  of  the 
book  relates.  Hence,  on  this  point  they  did 
not,  could  not  know  whereof  they  affirm ;  and 
this  part  of  their  testimony  is  worthless  in  the 
case. 

These  witnesses  testify  they  have  seen  the 
engravings  which  are  on  the  plates.  That 
these  witnesses  saw  plates  is  possible,  but  that 
they  saw  plates  from  which  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon was  translated  they  could  not  know,  un- 
less they  were  present  and  were  eye  witnesses 
during*  the  whole  time  the  plates  were  being* 
translated,  and  that  the  plates  shown  to  them 
after  the  translation  of  the  book  were  the  very 
identical  plates  from  which  the  book  was  trans- 
lated. I  again  say  this  they  could  not  be  sure 
of,  and  hence  their  testimony  does  not  bear  on 
the  case. 

These  witnesses  declare  that  "an  angel 
came  down  from  heaven  and  brought  and  laid 
before  our  eyes,  that  we  beheld  and  saw  the 
plates  and  the  engraving's  thereon. "  That  a 
being-  styled  by  them  an  angel  appeared  before 
them  is  possible ;  but  that  the  being-  or  angel 


Witnesses  Examined  and  Tested.  473 

came  down  from  heaven  they  could  not  possibly 
know,  unless  they  were  all  personally  present 
in  heaven  when  he  left.  That  plates  were 
brought  and  laid  before  their  eyes,  and  that 
they  beheld  and  saw  plates  and  engravings 
thereon  are  all  possible.  But  that  the  plates  here 
referred  to  were  the  plates  and  the  engravings 
from  which  the  Book  of  Mormon  was  trans- 
lated they  did  not,  nor  could  they  know,  unless 
they  had  (all  of  the  three  witnesses)  a  perfect 
knowledge  of  the  characters  on  the  plates  and 
had  also  a  perfect  knowledge  of  Smith's  per- 
fect translation  of  said  plates,  and  that  the 
Book  of  Mormon  as  it  then  was  in  its  contents 
was  in  perfect  accord  with  the  plates  then  and 
there  testified  to.  Neither  could  they  know 
that  the  plates  laid  then  before  their  eyes, 
were  the  original  plates  from  which  the  Book 
of  Mormon  was  translated,  unless  they  had  the 
said  plates  in  their  own  possession  from  the 
time  they  had  been  translated  to  the  time  they 
claim  to  have  seen  them ;  and  at  this  time  they 
say  an  angel  brought  the  plates  and  laid  them 
before  said  witness,  proving  conclusively  that 
the  plates  had  been  in  heaven  and  in  possession 


474      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

of  an  ang-el  and  at  that  time  could  not  be  in  pos 
session  of  said  witnesses.  Therefore  said  wit- 
nesses could  not  possibly  kno^v  that  the  plates 
then  shown  to  them  were  the  plates  from 
which  the  Book  of  Mormon  was  translated ; 
hence,  their  testimony  is  null  and  void  in  the 
case. 

The  witnesses  are  then  made  to  say  that  they 
know  it  is  by  the  grace  of  God  the  Father  and 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  they  beheld  and 
bear  record  that  these  thing's  are  true.  This 
particular  claim  on  the  part  of  the  witnesses  of 
the  grace  of  God,  Jesus,  etc.,  does  not  weig"h  in 
the  case  pro  or  con,  but  as  revealed  to  Cow- 
dery  by  Smith  they  had  seen  them  by  the  power 
of  God,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  they  pro- 
fessed to  receive. 

It  is  simply  a  special  effort  on  their  part  to 
make  out  their  case,  and  is  but  abstract  testi- 
mony without  possibility  of  proof,  as  it  relates 
to  those  who  wish  to  know  the  truth  or  fallacy 
of  the  Book  of  Mormon. 

The  witnesses  then  say  that  these  thing's 
were  marvelous  in  their  eyes.  This  clause,  on 
the  part  of  the  witnesses,  is  simply  a  marvel- 


Witnesses  .Examined  and  Tested.  475 

ous  effort  to  furnish  something",  but  has  no 
bearing*  as  proof  that  the  Book  of  Mormon  is 
translated  by  the  power  of  God  from  plates. 

The  witnesses  then  testify  that  "the  voice 
of  the  L/ord  commanded  us  that  we  bear 
record  of  it."  Here  we  have  a  voice  command- 
ing' them  to  bear  record  of  it.  Whether  this 
was  an  audible  voice  or  something-  "put  into 
their  mind,"  as  in  the  case  of  Cowdery,  or 
something*  studied  up,  as  in  the  above,  relating- 
to  Smith's  process  with  Harris  and  Cowdery, 
who  can  tell?  This  part  of  the  testimony  of 
the  witnesses,  simply  does  not  fig-ure  in  estab- 
lishing- the  fact  soug-ht  to  be  proven  in  this  case. 
This  testimony  of  these  three  witnesses  is  very 
profuse  and  elaborate  ;  contains  some  300  words. 
It  is  evidently  constructed  to  support  a  doubt- 
ful case  ;  but  its  very  nature  exhausts  itself, 
and  it  virtually  proves  nothing-. 

What  is  true  with  reg-ard  to  the  testimony  of 
the  group  of  three  witnesses  is  equally  true  as 
i4-  relates  to  the  group  of  eig-ht,  as  subscribed 
to  the  Book  of  Mormon.  Only  that  Smith  and 
not  an  ang-el  shows  the  plates  to  the  witnesses. 
Four  of  these  witnesses  were  Witmore's  and 


476      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

three  were  Smith's,  both  specially  interested 
families. 

These  witnesses,  the  nature  of  the  pretended 
facts  testified  to,  the  character  of  Smith,  his 
influence  and  the  means  he  used  to  influence 
the  witnesses,  compared  with  the  testimony  of 
those  who  prove  that  the  Book  of  Mormon  con- 
tained much  of  the  Spalding*  manuscript ;  added 
to  this  so  much  of  the  New  Testament  quoted 
and  found  in  the  Book  of  Mormon,  hundreds  of 
years  before  the  New  Testament  age,  or  before 
it  was  in  existence,  prove  beyond  all  doubt  that 
the  testimony  of  all  these  witnesses  to  the 
Book  of  Mormon  was  strictly  a  fabrication, 
and  in  no  case  such  as  may  be  relied  upon. 
Where  man  yields  to  fraud  he  has  no 
limit. 

The  writer  having*  made  Mormonism  a  special 
study,  having"  once  been  a  member  of  the  insti- 
tution and  having"  lived  among1  them  in  Utah, 
has  become  fully  persuaded  that  Mormonism  as 
a  system  is  a  false  religious  system,  or  is  a 
wicked  delusion  (as  set  forth  in  the  scriptures) 
from  and  of  the  Evil  One.  These  very  promi- 
nent men  who  knew  and  associated  the  most 


Witnesses  Examined  and  Tested.  477 

with    Smith — Martin   Harris   and    Cowdery— 
both  abandoned  Smith  and  his  Mormon  system, 
proving  that  they  did  not  have  or  had  lost  all 
confidence  in  this  monstrous  religious  fraud  of 
which  Smith  stood  at  the  head. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
SMITH'S   TROUBLES  —  MANUSCRIPT   LOST- 

HARRIS  THREATENS  SMITH'S 


I  SHALL  now  ask  the  attention  of  the  reader 
more  particularly  to  Smith's  conduct  and 
the  nature  of  the  pretended  religious  s}^stem  as 
developed  in  its  onward  march  to  Kirtland, 
Ohio  ;  to  Independence,  Missouri  ;  to  Far  West, 
Missouri,  and  Nauvoo,  Illinois,  where  Smith's 
life  was  sacrificed  to  the  rage  of  his  enemies, 
many  of  whom  were  and  had  been  members  of 
his  church. 

The  first  of  Smith's  pretended  revelations  in 
Book  of  Doctrines  and  Covenants  is  one  given 
to  and  for  himself,  and  shows  he  was  by  no 
means  proof  against  sin  and  transgression. 
44  And  behold,  how  oft  you  have  transgressed 
the  commandments  and  laws  of  God,  and  have 
gone  on  in  the  persuasions  of  men.  Therefore, 
repent  of  that  which  you  have  done,  which  is 
contrary  to  the  commandment  which  I  gave 
you."—  D.  &  C.,  page  170. 
(478) 


Smith's  Troubles.  479 

Smith  here  had  yielded  to  Harris  in  letting- 
Harris  have  a  part  of  the  translated  record, 
which  Mrs.  Harris  had  taken  and  put  secretly 
to  one  side,  proposing-  that  Joseph  shall  have 
the  g-olden  opportunity  of  translating-  it  over 
again,  that  she  then  mig-ht  know  the  truth  of 
Joseph  and  his  divine  claims  to  translating-,  by 
comparing-  the  two  inspired  products. 

Sister  Harris  had  entertained  suspicions  be- 
fore this  that  there  was  something-  wrong-, 
while  her  husband  had  been  furnishing-  Joseph 
with  funds  to  subsist  on  and  for  incidental  ex- 
penses. Harris  had  not  intended  that  his  wife 
should  have  access  to  the  sacred  record  ;  having- 
kept  the  manuscript  in  a  private  drawer,  and 
had  been  very  careful  that  Sister  Harris  should 
not  have  the  key.  But  men.  being-  somewhat 
careless,  and  women  always  on  the  sharp  look- 
out when  secrets  are  afloat,  Harris  one  morn- 
ing- was  not  as  much  on  his  g-uard  as  he  should 
be  about  the  key  that  opened  the  way  to  this 
carefully  g-uarded  divine  manuscript.  He  un- 
fortunately left  the  key  in  the  drawer.  Sister 
Harris,  woman-like,  soon  saw  and  made  use  of 
her  opportunity ;  opened  the  drawer,  took  out 


480      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

the  manuscript  and  hid  it  away  ;  that  was  the 
last  of  the  manuscript  so  iar  as  Smith  was 
concerned.  Mrs.  Harris  determined  Smith 
should  translate  that  part  of  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon over  again ;  and  then  she  would  compare 
the  two  as  a  test  of  Smith's  divine  claim  to 
translating*.  Now  the  reader  will  readily  see 
if  Smith  was  inspired  of  God  to  translate,  the 
same  God  who  inspired  the"  first  could  inspire  a 
second  just  like  the  first ;  unless  it  was  in  fact 
to  be  studied  out,  if  so  it  was  possible  that 
Smith  might  study  it  out  different.  But  Sister 
Harris  was  doomed  to  disappointment.  Smith 
knew  too  well  that  he  could  not  furnish  a 
second  just  like  the  first.  And  now  to  extri- 
cate himself  out  of  his  dilemma  he  resorts  to 
getting  a  revelation  direct  from  God  to  cover 
detection,  and  receives  the  pretended  reproof  as 
given  above.  After  having  secured  God's  dis- 
approbation upon  himself,  he  receives  a  second 
revelation  relating  to  the  same  matter  of  lost 
manuscript.  The  second  revelation  is  the 
length  of  an  ordinary  sermon,  and  I  am  unable 
to  give  but  a  small  part  of  it. 

D.  &  C.,  pages  180,  181,  par.  6 :     "  Behold,  I 


Smith's  Troubles.  481 

say  unto  you,  that  you  shall  not  translate  again 
those  words  which  have  gone  forth  out  of  your 
hands ;  for,  behold,  they  shall  not  accomplish 
their  evil  designs  in  lying  against  these  words. 
FW,  behold,  if  you  should  bring  forth  the  same 
words  they  will  say  that  you  have  lied ;  that 
you  have  pretended  to  translate,  but  that  you 
have  contradicted  yourself ;  and,  behold,  they 
will  publish  this,  and  Satan  will  harden  the 
hearts  of  the  people  to  stir  them  up  to  anger 
against  you,  that  they  will  not  believe  my 
words.  Thus  Satan  thinketh  to  overpower 
your  testimony  in  this  generation,  that  the 
work  may  not  come  :Jorth  in  this  generation  ; 
but,  behold,  here  is  wisdom,  and  because  I 
show  unto  you  wisdom,  I  give  you  command- 
ments concerning  these  things  what  you  shall 
do ;  show  it  not  unto  the  world  until  you  have 
accomplished  the  work  of  translation.  Marvel 
not  that  I  said  unto  you  it  is  wisdom  ;  show  it 
not  unto  the  world,  for  I  said  show  it  not  unto 
the  world,  that  you  may  be  preserved.  Behold, 
I  do  not  say  that  you  shall  not  show  it  unto 
the  righteous  ;  but  as  you  cannot  always  judge 
the  righteous  or  as  you  cannot  always  tell 


482      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refitted. 

the  wicked  from  the  righteous ;  therefore,  I 
say  unto  you,  hold  your  peace  until  I  shall  see 
fit  to  make  all  things  known  unto  the  world 
concerning  the  matter.  And,  now,  verily  I  say 
unto  you  that  an  account  of  those  things  that 
you  have  written,  which  have  gone  out  of  your 
hands,  are  engraven  upon  the  plates  of  Nephi ; 
yea,  and  you  remember  it  was  said  in  these 
writings  that  a  more  particular  account  was 
given  of  these  things  upon  the  plates  of  Nephi. 
And,  now,  because  the  account  which  is  en- 
graven upon  the  plates  of  Nephi  is  more  par- 
ticular concerning  the  things  which,  in  my  wis- 
dom, I  would  bring  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
people  in  this  account ;  therefore,  you  shall 
translate  the  engravings  which  are  on  the 
plates  of  Nephi,  down  even  till  you  come  to  the 
reign  of  King  Benjamin,  or  until  you  come  to 
that  which  you  have  translated,  which  you 
have  retained  ;  and,  behold,  you  shall  ptiblish 
it  as  the  record  of  Nephi,  and  thus  I  will  con- 
found those  who  have  altered  my  words.  I 
will  not  suffer  them  that  they  shall  destroy  my 
work ;  yea,  I  will  show  unto  them  that  my 
wisdom  is  greater  than  the  cunning  of  the  devil. ' ' 


Smith's  Troubles.  483 

The  above  quotation  is  less  than  one-fourth  of 
the  revelation  which  Smith  pretends  to  receive 
from  God  direct  to  relieve  himself  from  the 
trouble  he  had  fallen  into  by  letting-  Harris 
have  a  part  of  the  translated  manuscript  to 
take  home  for  his  examination,  and  to  excuse 
himself  for  not  translating1  the  same  part  over 
again. 

I  can  but  think  his  daring-  pretension  to  re- 
ceiving- direct  revelations  from  God,  such  as 
the  foregoing-,  with  hundreds  of  others  of  like 
nature,  for  the  purpose  of  more  successfully 
carrying-  out  his  relig-ious  imposition  is  the  most 
revolting-  and  God-daring-  of  anything-  outside 
of  perdition  itself.  Surely  God  must  have 
passed  by  such  for  some  wise  end,  or  his  judg- 
ments  would  have  overtaken  him  long-  before 
they  did  at  Nauvoo,  some  fourteen  years  after- 
ward in  the  Carthag-e  jail,  where  the  poor  unfor- 
tunate creature,  with  his  more  innocent  brother 
Hiram,  lost  his  life  in  the  act  of  the  pretended 
prophet  of  God  using-  his  fire-arms  on  the 
infuriated  mob. 

Well  mig-ht  Smith  say,  as  he  did  shortly  be- 
fore he  lost  his  life,  D.  &C.,  page  316,  par.  2, 


484      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

"As  for  the  perils  I  am  called  to  pass  through 
they  seem  but  a  small  thing-  to  me,  as  the  envy 
and  wrath  of  man  have  been  nry  common  lot  all 
the  days  of  my  life  ;  and  for  what  cause  it  seems 
mysterious,  unless  I  was  ordained  from  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world  for  some  good  or 
bad  end,  as  you  may  choose  to  call  it.  Judge 
ye  for  yourselves.  God  knoweth  all  things, 
whether  it  be  good  or  bad.  But,  nevertheless, 
deep  water  is  what  I  am  wont  to  swim  in.  It 
all  has  become  a  second  nature  to  me,  and  I 
feel  like  Paul  to  glory  in  tribulation,  for  to  this 
day  has  the  God  of  my  fathers  delivered  me 
out  of  them  all,  and  will  deliver  me  henceforth ; 
for,  behold,  and  lo  !  I  shall  triumph  over  all  my 
enemies,  for  the  Lord  God  hath  spoken  it." 

Less  than  two  years  after  the  date  of  this 
prediction  Smith  was  killed  by  his  enemies. 
Was  he  a  false  prophet?  Surely  he  was,  and 
paid  the  penalty  of  death  as  such.  Smith  was 
evidently  self-deceived  and  led  captive  by  the 
devil  at  his  will ;  and  yet  all  his  life  long  he 
claimed  that  all  other  religionists  were  led  cap- 
tive by  the  devil,  while  in  the  foregoing  revela- 
tion he  compares  himself  with  Paul  in  tribula- 


Smith's  Troubles.  485 

tion.  Yet,  according1  to  his  own  testimony  he 
did  not  know  whether  from  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world  he  was  made  choice  of  for 
good  or  bad.  How  different  from  Paul  in  this 
respect.  For  Paul  could  say,  *  'I  know  in  whom 
I  have  believed,"  and  that  "henceforth  there 
is  laid  up  a  crown  of  righteousness. "  But 
poor,  unfortunate  Smith  doubted  and  knew  not 
whose  servant  he  was,  and  consequently  knew 
not  what  his  future  destiny  would  be. 

The  Book  of  Mormon  appears  to  have  been 
printed  and  published  in  the  spring-  of  1830. 
There  had  been  much  talk  and  some  excitement 
in  the  minds  of  many  people  with  regard  to  the 
coming-  Golden  Bible.  Many  were  anxious  to 
see  it  and  to  learn  its  contents  ;  others  were 
anxious  to  criticise  and  test  it,  expecting-  to  be 
able  to  detect  its  fraudulent  claims.  TLe  most 
interested  parties  were  Harris  and  the  Smith 
family.  Harris  undoubtedly  had  furnished  the 
principal  part  of  the  funds  and  was  anxious 
about  financial  returns.  He  had  said,  as  his 
brother  testifies,  "What  if  it  is  a  lie;  if  you 
will  let  me  alone,  I  will  make  money  out  of  it." 
Harris  no  doubt  was  more  anxious  about  the 


486      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

money-making"  part  than  he  was  about  the  pre- 
tended gospel  there  was  in  it,  and  its  power 
and  necessity  to  save  souls.  Smith  had  already 
received  for  Harris  a  pretended  God-given 
message  that  he  was  ' '  to  impart  of  his  means 
freely  for  the  printing*  of  the  Book  of  Mormon." 
This  pretended  revelation  goes  on  to  say  to 
Harris,  "Impart  a  portion  of  thy  property; 
yea,  even  a  part  of  thy  lands  and  all  save  the 
support  of  thy  family,  and  pay  the  debt  thou 
hast  contracted  with  the  printer.  Release  thy- 
self from  bondage."  Think,  dear  reader,  of 
the  Lord  God  Almighty  through  the  pretended 
prophet,  Joseph  Smith,  urging,  having  to  urge 
one  of  these  divine  founders  of  Mormonism  by 
such  pretended  revelations  as  the  above,  to 
give  all  he  had  save  just  the  support  of  his 
family,  and  to  pay  his  printers'  bill.  It  surely 
is  the  very  height  of  blasphemy  for  Smith  to 
assume  and  pretend  such. 

But  the  Smith  family  had  entertained  the 
highest  kind  of  financial  hopes  from  the  coming 
forth  of  the  Book  of  Mormon,  according  to  the 
statement  of  the  prophet's  mother,  where  she 
said  to  Harris's  brother,  as  seen  above,  and  is 


Smith's  Troubles.  487 

stated  as  follows :  ' '  The  old  lady  said  also 
that  after  the  book  was  translated  the  plates 
were  to  be  publicly  exhibited — admittance 
twenty-five  cents.  She  calculated  it  would 
bringf  in  annually  an  enormous  sum  of  money— 
that  money  would  then  be  very  plenty  and  the 
book  would  sell  for  a  great  price,  as  it  was 
something'  entirely  new — that  they  had  been 
commanded  to  obtain  all  the  money  they  could 
borrow  for  present  necessity,  and  to  repay  with 
g*old.  The  remainder  was  to  be  kept  in  store 
for  the  benefit  of  their  family  and  children." 

After  all  Smith's  claim  that  the  Book  of 
Mormon  was  not  to  be  operated  as  a  profitable 
money-making-  scheme,  it  would  appear  from 
the  statement  of  the  mother  of  the  prophet  that 
the  family  looked  upon  it  strictly  from  a  money 
standpoint.  Of  course  this  was  very  natural ; 
and  Smith  shows  in  his  whole  course  of  life 
the  strong1  predominance  of  the  natural  over 
the  spiritual,  in  his  perpetual  efforts  to 
stand  at  the  head  of  every  department  of  the 
Mormon  system,  and  especially  where  the 
finance  was  concerned.  But  from  all  that  may 
be  learned  the  Book  of  Mormon,  as  a  book,  was 


488      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

not  a  financial  success  to  the  extent  that  Smith's 
family  had  anticipated,  and  I  doubt  if  Harris 
"  let  alone  "  made  any  money  out  of  the  lie. 

The  same  year  the  Book  of  Mormon  was  pub- 
lished the  church  proper  was  organised,  April 
6,  1830.  Smith  had  been  operating1  for  seven 
years  in  visions  with  angels,  peeping*  at  the 
stone  with  his  hat  over  his  face ;  with  the  pre- 
tended plates,  finding1  their  locality,  getting 
possession  of  them  and  translating*,  etc. ;  and 
after  seven  years'  preparation  with  a  small 
band  Smith  organized  his  peculiar  church  in 
the  town  of  Fayette,  Seneca  county,  state  of 
New  York.  The  year  before  the  organization 
of  the  church  it  is  said  in  Remarkable  Visions 
by  O.  Pratt,  page  11,  that  a  holy  angel  ap- 
peared to  Smith  and  Cowdery  and  laid  his 
hands  upon  their  heads  and  ordained  them  and 
commanded  them  to  baptize  each  other,  which 
they  accordingly  did.  It  will  be  seen  in  and 
about  this  organic  system  of  Mormonism  there 
is  brought  to  bear  a  great  deal  of  the  formal 
ceremonial  ordination  to  constitute  proper  di- 
vine authority,  to  officiate  or  act  legally  in  the 
institution. 


Smith's  Troubles.  489 

Mormonism,  as  a  system  of  religion  is  very, 
very  formal.  As  in  all  religious,  organic  sys- 
tems, where  there  is  the  least  requirement  and 
positive  demand  for  strict,  personal  piety  and 
spiritual  New  Testament  regeneration  by  the 
direct  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  there  is 
always  the  greatest  stress  (as  if  to  make  up) 
laid  upon  the  observance  of  ceremonies,  ordina- 
tions, priestly  authority  and  ritualistic  formula, 
and  this  fact  is  seriously  manifest  throughout 
the  whole  system  and  workings  of  Mormonism. 
Smith  stood  at  the  head  as  the  head  of  a  great 
organic,  formal,  ceremonial,  legalized,  religious 
system  which  he  built  about  himself  for  the 
purpose  of  absolute  control  over  both  the  peo- 
ple and  their  property  ;  and  it  is  unequaled  in 
its  make-up  as  a  religious  despotism  by  any- 
thing which  has  ever  preceded  it.  Smith, 
claiming  to  be  the  mouth-piece  of  God  to  his 
adherents,  none  daring  to  question  his  power  or. 
authority,  or  doing  so  at  the  risk  of  condemna- 
tion in  this  life  and  that  which  is  to  come ;  and 
to  establish  this  on  his  pretended  divine  basis, 
he  claims  divine  ordination  from  the  hands  of 
God  himself,  of  Jesus  Christ,  of  holy  angels,  of 


490      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

Peter,  James  and  John,  of  John  the  Baptist,  and 
constant  and  continual  inspiration  and  revela- 
tions from  God  by  means  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which 
he  claims  is  at  his  constant  and  continual  control. 
In  the  light  of  such  claims,  authority  and 
power,  who  would  dare  to  even  question  or  re- 
sist his  orders  or  demands?  His  claims  are  as 
high  as  the  throne  of  God  in  heaven  if  correct, 
and  as  Jow  as  the  lowest  corner  of  perdition  if 
usurped  and  false.  There  is  no  medium  ground 
about  Joseph  Smith's  system  of  religion.  It  is 
strictly  of  God  or  strictly  of  Satan.  I  give 
Smith  credit  where  he  makes  one  of  the 
prophets  in  his  Book  of  Mormon  to  say,  "There 
are  but  two  religions ;  one  is  from  God  and  the 
other  is  from  the  devil."  Such  is  the  nature 
of  Mormonism.  There  is  no  half  way  about  it ; 
there  cannot  be.  It  is  either  supremely  divine, 
or  it  is  supremely  diabolical.  Hence,  an  angel 
is  said  by  Smith  to  stand  before  him  and  Cow- 
dery  and  lay  his  hand  upon  them  in  order  to  or- 
dain them  so  they  could  baptize  each  other  and 
their  baptism  be  valid  on  earth  in  the  church  ; 
(though  their  baptism  took  place  the  year  be- 
fore the  church  was  organized).  Any  and  all 


.      Smith's  Troubles.  491 

persons  who  wish  to  maintain  absolute  control 
over  their  fellowmen  are  ever  like  Smith — 
very  particular  about  organic  formula,  ordina- 
tions, etc.,  to  bolster  up  their  authority,  while 
the  love  of  God  and  man  and  the  true  spirit  of 
Jesus  Christ  are  but  secondary  matters. 

The  writer  fails  to  see  that  the  New  Testa- 
ment provides  for  an  organic  system,  an  earthly 
system,  such  as  Mormonism,  before  the  second 
coming*  of  Christ  on  the  earth.  The  kingdom 
of  Jesus  was  not  of  this  world.  It  was  per- 
sonal. It  was  spiritual.  It  is  not  a  question 
of  ordination  to  constitute  authority  as  to 
whether  a  child  of  God  shall  work  in  his  Lord's 
vineyard.  No,  working  in  the  Lord's  vineyard 
is  a  matter  of  spontaneous  duty  on  the  part  of 
a  true  child  of  God.  He  must  do  all  he  is  able 
for  his  Lord  and  master  and  for  his  fellow 
whom  he  wishes  to  have  saved.  Does  a  child 
of  God,  having  given  his  heart  and  soul  to 
work  for  God  and  humanity,  need  to  procure 
authority  from  such  men  as  Smith  before  he 
can  teach  the  principles  of  Jesus  Christ  to  his 
fellow?  And  should  a  true,  penitent  believer 
in  Jesus  Christ  call  upon  any  true  child  of  God, 


492      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

asking*  the  administration  of  Christian  baptism 
at  his  hand,  I  ask  could  such  intelligent  be- 
liever refuse  and  remain  innocent,  though  such 
administrator  never  had  human  authority  con- 
ferred upon  him  by  formal  ordination  of  the 
laying  of  hands,  such  as  Smith  and  others 
might  demand  ?  The  New  Testament  does  not 
provide  for  Mormonism  a.s  a  system  of  God. 
No,  but  it  does  provide  or  predict  it  as  follows : 
4 '  Now  the  Spirit  speaketh  expressly  that  in  the 
latter  times  some  shall  depart  from  the  faith, 
giving  heed  to  seducing  spirits  and  doctrines  of 
devils,  speaking  lies  in  hypocrisy,  having  their 
conscience  seared  with  a  hot  iron."  —1  Timothy 
iv :  1-2.  ' '  Beware  of  false  prophets  which 
come  to  you  in  sheep's  clothing,  but  inwardly 
they  are  ravening  wolves.  Ye  shall  know 
them  by  their  fruits." — Matthew  vii :  15-16. 
"Many  will  say  unto  me  in  that  day,  Lord, 
Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy  name? 
and  in  thy  name  have  cast  out  devils,  and  in 
thy  name  have  done  many  wonderful  works? 
and  then  will  I  profess  unto  them,  I  never 
knew  you ;  depart  from  me,  ye  that  work 
iniquity."— Matthew  vii:  22-23. 


Smith's  Troubles.  493 

Dear  reader,  just  as  sure  as  the  New  Testa- 
ment sets  forth  to  man  a  true  religion — the 
law  of  God  to  man — the  law  of  love  and  righte- 
ousness by  Christ  Jesus,  just  so  sure  does  the 
New  Testament  set  forth  a  false  religion. 
"For  such  are  false  apostles,  deceitful  work- 
ers, transforming  themselves  into  the  apostles 
of  Christ.  And  no  marvel ;  for  Satan  himself 
is  transformed  into  an  angel  of  light.  There- 
fore, it  is  no  great  thing  if  his  ministers  also 
be  transformed  as  the  ministers  of  righteous- 
ness, whose  end  shall  be  according  to  their 
works." —2  Cor.  xi :  13-15.  Many  spirits  have 
gone  out  into  the  world  ;  try  the  spirits,  whether 
they  be  of  God. — 1  John  iv :  1.  "Prove  all 
things ;  hold  fast  that  which  is  good." 

In  September  following  the  organization  of 
the  church,  Smith  pretends  to  receive  a  special 
message  from  God  to  Cowdery.  Smith,  by 
this  pretended  communication,  shows  he  was 
evidently  feeling  a  danger  of  being  supplanted, 
or  his  equal  coming  up  as  a  leader  of  the  church, 
and  to  guard  this  point  he  proposes  the  follow- 
ing as  a  revelation  from  God  : 

"Behold,   I   say   unto   thee,    Oliver,  that    it 


494      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

shall  be  given  unto  thee,  that  thou  shalt  be 
heard  by  the  church  in  all  thing's  whatsoever 
thou  shalt  teach  them  by  the  Comforter  con- 
cerning* the  revelations  and  commandments 
which  I  have  given ;  but,  behold,  verily,  verily, 
I  say  unto  thee,  no  one  shall  be  appointed  to 
receive  commandments  and  revelations  in  this 
church  except  my  servant  Joseph  Smith,  Jr., 
for  he  receiveth  them  even  as  Moses ;  and  thou 
shalt  be  obedient  unto  the  thing's  which  I  shall 
give  unto  him,  even  as  Aaron. 
Thou  shalt  not  write  by  way  of  commandments, 
but  by  wisdom ;  and  thou  shalt  not  command 
him  who  is  at  thy  head  and  at  the  head  of  the 
church,  for  I  have  given  him  the  keys  of  the 
mysteries  and  the  revelations  which  are  sealed." 
-D.  &  C.,  pag-es  202,  203. 

How  much  is  this  like  the  apostles  of  Jesus 
when  contending*  which  of  them  should  be  the 
greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  to  rebuke 
whom  the  meek  and  humble  Jesus  came  to 
them  and  took  up  a  little  child,  simple,  inno- 
cent, unambitious  in  the  sense  of  personal  au- 
thority? And,  ag^ain,  when  to  correct  the  same 
selfish  spirit,  "he  washed  his  disciples'  feet," 


Smith's  Troubles.  495 

and  said  to  them  the  rulers  of  the  Gentiles  seek 
honor  one  of  another;  but,  said  Jesus,  It  shall  not 
be  so  among-  you,  for  he  that  would  be  greatest 
among-  you  let  him  become  least  and  servant  of 
all.  For,  ye'are  all  brethren  ;  ye  are  all  equal. 
But  the  leading*  trait  of  Smith's  character 
was  to  dictate,  to  rule,  to  control,  as  will  be 
seen  in  his  career  as  I  may  present.it  in  this  in- 
vestigation of  his  ambitious  life.  The  nature 
of  such  a  pretended  revelation  as  above  given 
to  let  Cowdery  know  that  the  best  he  could  or 
might  expect  was  that  he  should  play  second 
part  for  Smith.  So  infinitely  different  from 
the  spirit  of  the  Son  of  God  where  he  blesses 
the  poor  in  spirit,  those  that  mourn,  the  meek 
and  such  like.  But  we  shall  see  this  grasp- 
ing, ambitious  spirit  manifested  in  Smith  until 
we  see  him  set  up  by  his  enemies  dead  against 
the  well-curb  close  by  the  Carthage  jail ;  and  as 
Peter  would  have  it,  whereunto  also  he  was 
appointed.— 1  Peter  ii :  8.  "What  if  God, 
willing  to  shew  his  wrath,  and  to  make  his 
power  known,  endured  with  much  long-suffer- 
ing the  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  to  destruction." 
— Romans  ix:  22, 


496      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

In  this  same  pretended  God-given  message 
to  Cowdery,  it  is  stated,  "And  now,  behold,  I 
say  unto  you,  that  it  is  not  revealed,  and  no 
man  knoweth,  where  the  city  shall  be  built ;  but 
it  shall  be  given  hereafter.  Behold,  I  say  unto 
you/that  it  shall  be  on  the  borders  of  the  Lam- 
anites"  [Indians]. 

Here,  in  this  pretended  revelation,  mention 
is  made  of  a  city,  which,  though  the  place  or 
locality  was  not  yet  determined,  yet  it  was  fixed 
to  be  on  the  borders  of  the  Lamanites  (In- 
dians). This  city  project  is  'looking  forward 
toward  a  very  important  factor  on  the  part  of 
Smith  in  the  development  of  Mormonism. 
Smith  was  quick  to  perceive  that  while  his  fol- 
lowers were  isolated  and  scattered  he  could 
make  but  little  or  no  profitable  use  of  them  or 
their  possessions ;  that  unless  he  could  gather 
them  together,  or  colonize  them,  his  ambition 
to  rule  and  to  control  both  the  people  and  their 
property  would  not  be  easily  attained.  This 
thought  with  Smith  suggested  a  central  gath- 
ering point — colonization  in  a  new  Jerusalem. 
Smith,  early  in  his  plans  and  life,  indulged  the 
thought  that  he  should  develop  the  institution 


Smith's  Troubles.  497 

or  kingdom  spoken  of  by  Daniel,  the  prophet— 
the  stone  cut  out  of  the  mountain  without 
hands,  that  was  to  break  in  pieces  and  consume 
all  these  kingdoms,  and  that  should  stand  for- 
ever. Dan.  ii :  44,  45.  This  is  one  of  the  lead- 
ing* thoughts  in  Smith's  plans  and  system,  and 
is  cherished  by  all  true  and  sincere  Mormons, 
both  of  the  Utah  and  Reorganized  bodies.  The 
grand  military  organization,  styled  the  Nauvoo 
Legion,  with  Rev.  J.  E.  Bennett,  M.  D.,  ma- 
jor-general of  the  legion,  and.  Smith  offering 
himself  as  a  candidate  for  the  presidency  of  the 
United  States,  were  all  moves  on  the  part  of 
Smith  looking  to  the  design  of  his  ruling  the 
nations  of  the  whole  earth.  The  followers  of 
Smith  contemplate  this,  and  every  enlightened 
Mormon  is  looking  forward  to  such  to-day. 

In  this  same  communication  by  Smith  to  Cow- 
dery  is  a  reproof  to  Hiram  Page,  as  follows : 
44 And  again,  thou  [Cowdery]  shall  take  thy 
brother,  Hiram  Page,  between  him  and  thee 
alone,  and  tell  him  that  those  things  which  he 
has  written  from  that  stone  are  not  of  me,  and 
Satan  deceiveth  him  ;  for,  behold,  these  things 
have  not  been  appointed  unto  him  ;  neither  shall 
32 


498      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

any  be  appointed  to  any  of  this  church  contrary 
to  the  church  covenants." 

In  the  person  of  Hiram  Page  Smith  appears 
to  have  met  with  competition  in  writing-  from  a 
stone  ;  but  Smith  was  managing  personally  this 
new  church,  in  the  sense  of  being  strictly  its 
head  and  dictating  all  important  matters.  So 
in  this  pretended  revelation  to  Cowdery,  he 
wishes  Cowdery  to  take  Page  to  one  side  and 
tell  him  that  what  he  had  written  from  that 
stone  was  not  of  God,  but  was  of  Satan,  giving 
Mr.  Page  to  understand  that  writing  from 
stones  was  of  divine  appointment,  and  he  had 
not  received  such  appointment  and  had  no 
license  to  write  from  stones ;  that  this  stone- 
writing  business  was  for  church  covenants  to 
settle,  and  he  (Smith)  had  this  authority. 

One  great  objection  the  writer  has  to  this 
false,  human,  or  Satanic  system  of  Mormonism 
is  the  priestly  authority  that  steps  in  as  a  mid- 
dle man — a  mediator — in  place  of  Jesus  Christ, 
who  is  the  only  middle  man,  or  mediator,  be- 
tween God  and  man,  and  making  it  impossible 
in  this  age  to  come  to  God  alone  through  Christ 
Jesus ;  declaring  that  every  one  must  necessa- 


Smith's  Troubles.  499 

rily  recognize  Smith's  pretended  divine  author- 
ity as  absolutely  essential  to  his  coming*  to 
God  and  obtaining-  salvation  through  Jesus 
Christ.  Mormonism  sets  forth  that  Jesus 
Christ,  and  God  the  eternal  Father,  and  heaven, 
or  eternal  salvation,  are  only  approachable  and 
obtainable  by  receiving-  the  Book  of  Mormon  as 
the  divinely,  God-inspired  and  God-given  book 
to  this  age  and  this  generation  ;  and  that  a  de- 
sirable and  happy  future  is  only  secured  by 
baptism  administered  by  the  Mormon  priest- 
hood, and  the  Holy  Ghost  only  enjoyed  by  the 
laying  on  of  the  hands  of  those  having  received 
authority  to  confer  it  from  Joseph  Smith.  Any 
set  of  men  (as  in  the  case  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
his  disciples),  setting  themselves  up  or  claim- 
ing that  only  by  their  power  and  authority,  as 
derived  from  God,  is  salvation  attainable  by 
mankind,  should  never  fail  to  have  the  miracu- 
lous power  of  God  at  all  times  and  in  all  places 
accompanying  them  to  a  degree  equal  to  their 
marvelous  claims.  For  as  one  writer  has  said, 
'*  To  believe  a  proposition  in  the  absence  of  ad- 
equate proof  is  immoral." 

But  I  turn  again  to  Smith's  instruction  to 


500      Mormonism  Exposed  and  Refuted. 

Cowdery,  as  follows:  "Thou  [Cowdery]  shall 
not  leave  this  place  until  after  the  conference, 
and  my  servant  Joseph  shall  be  appointed  to 
preside  over  the  conference  by  the  voice  of  it." 
Smith  was  favorable  to  the  conference  appoint- 
ing* its  own  president,  but  how  careful  he  is  to 
receive  a  pretended  communication  from  God, 
directing*  the  conference  to  appoint  4t  my  serv- 
ant Joseph"  to  preside  over  it.  In  a  life's  ex- 
perience of  sixty-six  years,  I  have  never  wit- 
nessed Smith's  equal  in  an  endeavor  to  be  and 
keep  at  the  head  of  everything-  and  every  one. 
The  writer  will  here  offer  a  premium  to  any  one 
who  may  be  able  to  furnish  one  single  instance 
in  Smith's  public  career  where  he  ever  g-ave 
preference  to  any  one  else  as  to  places  of  honor 
or  authority.  He  certainly  was  equal  to  Luci- 
fer in  his  ambition  to  rule  the  people  and  con- 
trol their  property.  He  certainly  was  abso- 
lutely destitute  of  that  tendency  of  mind,  in- 
dicated by  "in  honor  preferring-  one  another," 
esteeming  others  better  than  himself. 


